Chinese PV Industry Brief: New capacity expansion plans and 100 MW of PV for a poverty-alleviation project
Three major Chinese PV manufacturers have announced capacity expansion plans over the past week. Chint also released its 2019 financial results, while Kstar unveiled a new inverter supply deal.
Strong Q1 for First Solar, Enphase, Sunrun
U.S. residential solar installer Sunrun reported strong solar deployments and revenue to start 2020, even with orders decreasing by as much as 40% for periods in March. Micro-inverter manufacturer Enphase’s first-quarter revenues exceeded expectations as the company set an all-time gross margin record and announced plans for a new manufacturing location.
French solar equipment supplier touts fully automated production line
Startup Solean claims that its new fully automated production equipment offers a highly flexible way to bring panel manufacturing back to Europe.
Solar module quality control measures in an age of Covid-19
Asier Ukar, director of the Spanish unit of German technical advisory PI Berlin, tells pv magazine about his experiences of conducting quality control inspections in Chinese factories during the global pandemic.
Uzbekistan pitches for 5 GW of solar by 2030
The country’s previous solar target was 4 GW by 2031. Around 1.4 GW of large scale projects are expected to be tendered this year, according to a document published by the Ministry of Energy.
Power-to-heat-to-power storage for rooftop PV
Scientists in Spain have assessed the viability of ‘power-to-heat-to-power storage’ in a residential solar installation in Madrid. The technology could reduce electricity bills by more than 70% and would have a 12 to 15-year payback period, according to the researchers.
Solar driving efficient electrochemical water treatment
Researchers from the United States have investigated how solar could help electrochemical methods for water treatment become more competitive. The scientists analyzed how electrochemical technologies such as electrocoagulation, capacitive deionization, electrodialysis, and electrodeionization may be combined with solar power generation.
Seraphim launches 440 W shingled module
The half-cell module has a 20.81% efficiency and is composed of 158.75 mm mono PERC cells.
Spanish oil giant pushing community solar
Oil and gas business Repsol has launched Solmatch, the nation’s first large solar community.
SunPower accesses $1bn in residential solar and storage loan capital from credit union
The cash injection from Tech CU will fund the installation of ‘tens of thousands’ of the Californian manufacturer’s solar panels on residential rooftops over four years, according to the company.
