Weekend Read: Can Lula deliver on Brazil’s solar hopes?
Brazil’s newly elected government, under Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, will face energy-transition and decentralization issues during critically important years in the fight to curb climate change. Livia Neves reports from Rio de Janeiro.
Nigeria’s solar workforce can help the world to net zero
With a rising chorus of voices calling for more solar industry recruits to perform the energy transition, Nigeria already has a skilled base of PV engineers and, with a little help filling the few gaps they have in their knowledge, the nation can step into the breach immediately, as Testimony Gabe-Oji, chief technology officer for Abuja-based installer Green Energy Spectrum, explains.
Adani, Reliance to set up solar gigafabs in India
Adani, Reliance New Energy, Jindal India Solar and Shirdi Sai Electricals have been put on a shortlist for India’s production-linked incentive scheme for high-efficiency PV module manufacturing. The list includes 14 other companies vying for the incentives.
Polysilicon price rally may have reached its peak
Market analyst Bernreuter Research reports that the price of the raw material rose by around 160% from US$11/kg at the beginning of the year to $28.50/kg currently. However, following the SNEC trade show in Shanghai last week, the price rose by only 1%, which suggests a turnaround or a price stabilization may be expected.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Tongwei raises cell prices, Longi joins forces with Engie
The Chint Group has also said it was China’s largest PV plant owner at the end of 2020 with more than 5.7 GW in operation.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Another big polysilicon deal and rising wafer prices
Risen will sell 50,000 metric tons of poly to Shangji Automation and Zhonghuan Semiconductor has raised the prices of all its wafer products.
India extends manufacturing incentive program to solar modules
A national production-linked incentive scheme introduced to encourage domestic manufacturing will now encompass solar. The PV policy will reportedly offer increased rewards for the production of more efficient panels and for Indian content–although it is not clear how.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Increasing polysilicon prices and new supply deals
PV Infolink reported a considerable increase in prices for polysilicon and wafer prices for last week. Both products saw their average price increase by over 9% compared to the previous week.
Silver prices expected to rise by 11% this year
Silver demand for PV production worldwide is forecast to grow to 105 million ounces this year, as overall demand hits an eight-year high. Prices for the precious metal could reach a seven-year high of $30.00 per ounce this year but, according to the Silver Institute, this level is still far away from any critical threshold that would make silver supply for the solar industry problematic.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi, Jinko and JA Solar expect their combined capacity of 182mm modules will reach 54 GW next year
At a conference held in Shanghai last week, the three Tier-1 manufacturers explained that the entire Chinese PV industry will continue to adapt to the 182mm wafers over the next months.
