Norwegian Crystals proceeds with 6 GW PV ingot plans
Norwegian Crystals said it has secured all relevant permits for a new manufacturing facility in Norway. Construction is expected to start by the end of this year. The factory will have an initial capacity of 3.6 GW by 2026 but will eventually reach 6 GW at a later stage, according to the company.
Polysilicon price relief in 2023 as industry scales to 500 GW
Clean Energy Associates says solar wafer pricing will fall by 23% by the end of 2023, while BloombergNEF sees 500 GW of manufacturing capacity online by the end of next year.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Polysilicon price reaches new high at $45.4/kg, government takes action
Average polysilicon prices hit CNY 312 ($45.47)/kg this week, according to an industry association in China. The nation’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Energy Administration have also asked regional authorities to take action to deal with the price increase.
REC Silicon and Mississippi Silicon agreement bolsters U.S. solar supply chain
The recent Hanwha investment will enable a re-start of the currently idle Moses Lake plant in 2023 and make available high volumes of cost competitive, high quality, and low carbon solar grade polysilicon.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Power rationing affects solar module production
China installed 37.73 GW of solar in the first seven months of this year, according to official estimates. JinkoSolar said it is struggling to cope with power rationing in Sichuan province, while Shunfeng said it expects to record a hefty net loss for the first half.
Meyer Burger secures silicon wafer supplies from Norway
Meyer Burger has announced that it has concluded a binding supply agreement with Norwegian Crystals for silicon wafers to use in heterojunction cell manufacturing. Hydro facilities primarily power the production of the wafers and their precursor materials in Norway. Combined with the shorter distance they’ll have to travel, this adds up to a low carbon footprint.
Forced labor act is last barrier to US solar rebound, claims executive
Texas-based FTC Solar said it expects a “significant rebound” in its business in the final three months of this year, if it can secure sufficient supplies of PV panels.
Why is green energy infrastructure booming despite global economic woes?
The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout have had a variety of impacts on the clean energy transition, with some sectors being more affected than others. Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned of slowed progress towards sustainable energy goals due to Covid-19 and reversed progress in many areas crucial in reaching net zero, such as energy efficiency, clean cooking, or access to electricity. There is one sector, however, that has shown remarkable resilience since the beginning of the pandemic and has been able to maintain, and even accelerate, its rapid growth since 2020: green energy infrastructure.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Daqo’s profits soar by 341%
Daqo posted record revenue of CNY 16.3 billion ($2.3 billion) in the first six months of 2022, while Datang Group announced plans to build 5.58 GW of PV plants in China this year.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Polysilicon price remains flat
In other news, JinkoSolar is seeking to raise CNY 10 billion ($1.48 billion) to finance its capacity expansion plans and Trina Solar predicts strong profit growth for the first half of the year.
