Silfab unveils US manufacturing site with $40 million investment in Itek Energy
Canada-based Silfab Solar has invested US$40 million in U.S. solar PV module manufacturer, Itek Energy, LLC’s Bellingham, Washington production facility.
Degradation control tests for solar PV modules
Module degradation tests are essential not only for effective plant operations, but also to ensure an optimum ROI. However, fixed laboratories, where such tests are usually carried out, involve transportation issues, while it is not always economically feasible to send in mobile laboratories. So how can degradation in these instances be measured? Leonardo Enrique Pérez Abreu, Technical Manager of the Testing & Optimization department at Enertis discusses this issue.
India imposes 25% safeguard duty on solar imports
The Indian government has imposed a safeguard duty of 25% on solar imports from China and Malaysia for two years. The Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) levied the duty based on the final recommendations proposed by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). While most industry players are dismayed, believing project costs could “immediately” go up by 15%, others are more optimistic.
Top 10 crystalline PV module manufacturer ranking
With production and capacity figures provided by industry analyst IHS Markit, pv magazine provides a rundown of the top 10 crystalline silicon module manufacturers based on 2017 production data, followed by a look at the market forces and technology trends that have shaped the supply landscape.
Why can’t LID effects be completely removed in PERC cells?
Jay Lin, CEO of PVGuider discusses why the effects of light induced degradation (LID) in PERC cells cannot be completely eliminated. To explain the difficulty, we first need to understand the LID behavior of the cells, he says.
Q4 could be a ‘hot market’ for solar contract negotiations following China’s changes – BNEF Q&A
In a Q&A with Bloomberg NEF (BNEF), two solar analysts tell pv magazine they see no PV module price rebound, continuing oversupply, and falling utilization rates. They expect Q4 could be a “hot market” for contract negotiations, while Chinese developers will start overseas construction earlier than planned for two key reasons.
PVInsights reports strong price drop for monocrystalline products
The latest figures from the Taiwanese analysts show that prices for monocrystalline solar PV products have fallen sharply in a week-on-week comparison. The price drop for wafer was even stronger.
Kyocera to supply batteries, home energy systems for virtual power plant in Japan
Kyocera will participate in a new project in northern Japan to test how flexibly electricity suppliers can respond to fluctuations in energy supply and demand.
India: Waaree opens 1 GW solar module plant, plans to manufacture batteries
Waaree Energies has set up a 1 GW solar PV panel plant in Vapi, which is in addition to its existing 500 MW plant in Surat, Gujarat. The company intends to further increase capacity to 2 GW. Among other key developments, it has partnered with third-party equipment suppliers to manufacture batteries.
India issues EoI for establishment of PV module manufacturing units
India-based Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has invited an expression of interest (EoI) for the establishment of manufacturing facilities for the production of solar cells and crystalline silicon (c-si) modules (conventional/flexible) in India.
