Trina Solar

From zero to hero in 20 years, China’s PV industry has undergone an extraordinary journey. Vincent Shaw considers the reasons for the nation’s solar success and the challenges ahead.

TrendForce has ranked the top six module manufacturers by shipment volume in 2022, with Longi topping the list, followed by Trina Solar and JinkoSolar. JA Solar, Canadian Solar, and Risen Energy rounded out the top six, in a year dominated by large-format modules.

Trina Solar’s tracker subsidiary has launched a new version of its Vanguard single-axis two-in-portrait (2P) tracker. It uses multiple motors on one tracker row, reportedly allowing it to withstand higher wind loads and reduce tilt angle misalignment. The new solution is compatible with large modules up to 685 W.

Zhang Yingbin, Trina Solar’s head of global product strategy, speaks to pv magazine about the path to a supply chain dominated by n-type TOPCon products. He says Trina Solar will reach 30 GW of TOPCon solar module capacity by the end of 2023.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA) has calculated the price premium that solar developers will swallow in return for the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) savings offered by the latest generation of high-efficiency PV panels.

After an interim high in 2021, polysilicon imports into China fell again in 2022, but the country’s share in global output still came close to 90%, according to a new report by Bernreuter Research.

In response to growing demand, Trina Solar has revealed plans to ramp up ingot capacity at a new factory in Xining, in China’s Qinghai province.

China’s Trina Solar has published a white paper on its latest n-type TOPCon modules, with cost calculations and figures from demonstration projects. The Chinese PV manufacturer claims better performance from its 210 mm cells than with other n-type products based on smaller, 182 mm cells.

Trina Solar said it will start operating a new 6.5 GW solar wafer factory in Vietnam from mid-2023 to exclusively supply the utility, commercial and industrial (C&I) segments in the United States, as well as the US residential solar market.

Trina Solar says its industrial tunnel-oxide passivated contact (i-TOPCon) solar cells, based on 210 mm wafers, have started rolling off the production line at its 8 GW factory in China. It will use the n-type cells to produce its new Vertex N modules, with power outputs ranging up to 605 W, and an efficiency rating of 22.4%.