US House unanimously passes forced labor bill for China’s Xinjiang region
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would ban all imports from China’s Xinjiang region, unless the US government determines that products were not made with forced labor. The region supplies about 50% of the world’s polysilicon, which is an essential material in solar PV.
PV-powered hydrogen could already hit LCOH of €6.23/kg in Germany
Green hydrogen can now compete with hydrogen produced with fossil fuels in Germany, according to new research. Scientists have looked at six different scenarios for alkaline and PEM electrolyzers and identified alkaline devices powered by grid-connected PV as the cheapest option.
German PV equipment providers keep recovering, but uncertainties remain
German engineering association the VDMA has reported increasing orders and sales for PV equipment suppliers in the third quarter. China accounted for around 80% of PV production equipment demand during the period.
Developers sign PPAs for solar parks in Germany
RWE has signed a power purchase agreement with Enerparc for a 57 MW solar project, while a unit of Airbus has signed a deal with GP Joule for a 3.5 MW array.
Large-area bifacial TOPCon solar cell with 23.01% efficiency
The n-type cell was built with phosphorus-doped LPCVD poly-Si passivating contacts and achieved a remarkable open-circuit voltage of 691.7 mV. According to its creators, with some adjustments the cell may be suitable for commercial production.
Adani Green Energy signs solar PPAs with SECI
Adani Green Energy has signed power purchase agreements for 5.5 GW of 8 GW of capacity it won in a manufacturing-linked solar tender by Solar Energy Corp. of India.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: A 20 GW wafer factory under construction and more polysilicon capacity
Fuxing New Energy is building a wafer factory in Anhui Province and Tongwei is moving forward with its plan to increase polysilicon capacity to 430,000 metric tons by the end of 2023.
Semi-transparent antimony trisulfide PV cell for solar window applications
The 5.5%-efficient cell was fabricated through a low-temperature, two-step manufacturing process that is compatible with existing window glass manufacturing technology. Cells made with 70nm antimony trisulfide films achieved the best fill factor of around 57%, while the highest power conversion efficiencies were achieved with films ranging from 70 to 100nm.
Mondragon Assembly unveils tabber stringer for heterojunction PV cells
Mondragon Assembly has developed a new solution for the interconnection of heterojunction cells with electrically conductive adhesive tech. It can now produce up to 2,600 cells per hour, and is already available on the market.
Netherlands updates grid congestion map
Netbeheer Nederland has provided a new map for grid congested areas warning that grid-connection issues may also arise in less problematic areas. Solar, in particular, is claimed to be responsible for increasing grid-constraints.
