Suniva plans 3.5 GW US solar cell factory
Six years after petitioning the US government for tariffs to make its products more competitive, US.-based Suniva has revealed plans to launch 1 GW of cell manufacturing capacity by spring 2024, followed by an additional 2.5 GW expansion.
4JET unveils laser system for P1, P2, P3 scribing of perovskte, CdTe, CIGS solar modules
German equipment supplier 4JET has launched a new thin film system designed for P1, P2 and P3 laser scribing of perovskite, cadmium telluride (CdTe), and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar technologies.
Solar panel waste is not a significant problem
Solar panel waste will not be a problem because there is so little of it. However, there is a short-term problem in some places because panel deployment is growing fast and recycling is playing catch up.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: BASF, Oriental Yuhong to develop rooftop PV membranes
BASF and China’s Oriental Yuhong have developed thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofing membranes for rooftop solar PV applications, while GCL New Energy has sold 558 MW of operational solar capacity.
Using agrivoltaics on 1% of EU farmland could lead to 944 GW installed capacity, JRC says
If 157,621 hectares of utilized agricultural area in the European Union incorporated agrivoltaics, it could produce up to 944 GW installed capacity, a new study published by the Joint Research Centre found. Despite the optimism, certain challenges – such as no clear definition and dedicated standards – stand in the way of the technology’s success.
New hail test to assess impact of large, high-velocity ice balls on solar panels
A research group in Switzerland has enhanced the hail test stand to measure the impact of ice balls with larger diameters and higher speed on solar panels. The new testing approach will reportedly enable solar panel makers to assess their products with adequate safety margins.
Solar sector corporate financing up 55% so far this year, Mercom says
Despite inflationary challenges and elevated interest rates, financing in the solar industry has remained robust with corporate financing sitting at $28.9 billion – a 55% hike from last year’s $18.7 billion, a new report by Mercom Capital Group states.
Solar wafer prices hit record lows
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.
France’s CEA developing tech to recover silicon, silver from end-of-life PV panels
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed a recycling process for end-of-life PV modules, recovering silicon and silver, using supercritical CO2. Virginie Basini, head of CEA’s sustainable technologies department, discussed the technique with pv magazine France.
Bismuth ferrite, tungsten trioxide thin films for PV cells
Researchers recently identified the optimal laser energy for crafting BFO/WO3 bilayer thin films for solar cells at 200 millijoules (mJ), by carefully considering factors such as leakage and band gap.
