solar manufacturing

Following the indictment of its chairman, Gautam Adani, in the United States over bribery allegations, questions are being asked about Adani Group’s ability to raise capital. With the charges related to solar, India’s PV industry has wider concerns. Adani Group refutes the allegations and says it is as robust as ever.

The solar industry has dragged its heels on the issue of silver-dependence for cell metallization, but China’s Jiangsu Xianghuan Technology (JXTC) is moving into commercial production with a copper plating process that overcomes many of the challenges that have limited interest from cell manufacturers.

Two of Trina Solar’s module manufacturing sites in China have become the first such facilities to complete environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessments under the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI).

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest report, which maps out the future evolution of clean energy manufacturing, says the combined global market for PV, wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolyzers, and heat pumps will rise from $700 billion in 2023 to more than $2 trillion by 2035.

At Intersolar in Munich, pv magazine spoke with Jenny Chase, solar analyst at BloombergNEF, about the incredibly low polysilicon prices, massive overcapacity, and increasing consolidation. According to Chase, this year there will be enough polysilicon capacity to produce 1.1 TW of solar modules, but global module demand is expected to reach around 585 GW. “That is a pretty huge delta,” she said, noting that the solar industry should also prepare for a series of “negative feedback mechanisms,” such as negative prices and excess of solar power.

With PV module capacity ramping up, glass suppliers have been investing in new solar glass production capacity. As in India and China, new facilities are popping up in North America, with unique twists to ensure competitiveness, such as using recycled material.

With solar module oversupply triggering a price freefall in 2023 and no recovery in sight, market consolidation, inventory pile-up, technology shifts, and challenges to reshoring PV manufacturing are set to affect all levels of the solar supply chain.

The Chinese module manufacturer announced the first shipments of its new ASTRO N7s ZBB-TF modules to Europe. The product has a power output of up to 460 W and a temperature coefficient of -0.29% per C.

Native American lands boast serious PV potential in the United States but getting projects off the ground hasn‘t always been easy. Different tribes are willing to take power generation into their own hands and the landscape could be shifting, thanks to funding from the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other programs.

Solarcycle has invested $344 million in a solar manufacturing facility in Polk County, Georgia. The factory has been designed to use recycled materials from retired solar panels to produce new solar glass, positioning Solarcycle as one of the first manufacturers of specialized glass for crystalline-silicon PV in the US market.