Multicrystalline

The production of PV ingots and wafers remains the most highly concentrated of all the production stages in the silicon solar supply chain. Yet efforts to re-establish production in Europe and the United States are not for the faint-hearted.

Electricity bill payers in nations as diverse as Germany, Greece, India and China should be aware new solar projects can now generate electricity cheaper for them than legacy coal and gas-fired plants.

Plus, panel maker Risen began construction of a 15 GW cell and module factory in Yiwu, in the central Zhejiang province of eastern China.

The authorities in Beijing, concerned at ever greater solar production capacity announcements and oversupply fears, are preparing to introduce standards which would bring the recent mono Perc production explosion to a shuddering halt.

The 11th edition of the German document which tracks solar price falls and efficiency improvements has considered the role bigger wafers are playing in cost reduction.

The nation’s thriving distributed generation market is flying, as was evident at last week’s Intersolar South America trade show. The sector seems unconcerned by mooted changes to net metering incentives in the new year and when even an environmental non-believer like President Bolsonaro is on side, it is difficult to be pessimistic.

The state-owned State Power Investment Corp Ltd has received a bid of 25 cents per watt for monocrystalline panels in a tender to procure 3.04 GW of PV module capacity.

The latest figures show the solar policy vacuum, and related dearth of demand in China earlier this year accelerated price reductions for cell makers. Although prices are expected to rebound in line with renewed thirst for solar in China, cell makers such as Tongwei are feeling the pain.

The chairman of GCL System says Beijing’s pan Asian-African-European infrastructure initiative is helping the company reduce its dependence on its domestic market.

Taiwan-based analyst firm, WisolPro says the global capacity for PERC cells is rapidly increasing, with the technology likely to replace polycrystalline cells. HJT, thin film, and n-type PERT technologies are also on the rise.