Trina Solar

Trina Solar has been producing its 500 W modules in series for a month now and plans to increase their output to more than 600 W in the future.

The ten largest solar tracker companies accounted for 88% of the market last year, according to analyst WoodMackenzie, with the market growing 20% from 2018.

Yulin, in Shaanxi province has brought the curtain down on around 1 GW of PV projects which are under construction. It had previously been expected the city would add around 5 GW of new solar this year.

The Chinese manufacturer says the first products exited the factory 11 days after mass production started. The panels were launched by the company late last month.

The Jiangsu-based PV manufacturer follows peer JA Solar in de-listing in the U.S. to return to its homeland. The board will hope to gain access to more funding as a result, and will also face less public scrutiny.

With three models of 500 W solar panels officially unveiled, here’s a look at what it means for the future of project development and the solar industry at large.

The Chinese manufacturer believes it has set a record because its device was manufactured on standard commercial production equipment.

The Duomax V and Tallmax V panels are equipped with glass-glass and glass-backsheet frames, respectively. Both offer a reported 21% efficiency and orders will be taken from the second quarter on. Trina plans to have a combined 5 GW of annual production capacity for the products this year.

The solar giant shipped 14.2 GW of modules last year, up 33% on 2018 for the high-water mark of another year dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

Intersolar Europe is always a key date in the solar calendar but this year’s show had it all, including three panel-smuggling arrests. Elsewhere, wafers were getting bigger, efficiency records were tumbling and new technologies were emerging. There was also more news on the solar car ports fad and Hanwha’s ongoing legal tussle.