Weekend Read: The fruitful search for other thin films
First Solar and its cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology dominate thin-film solar in the mainstream market. Valerie Thompson looks at the US-based business and the future of thin-film PV technology.
Solyco switches on vertical PV systems on green rooftops in Germany
Solyco, a PV system specialist, has deployed a 12.64 kW vertical PV rooftop system made with glass-glass bifacial tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules in Hannover, Germany. It also installed a 10 kW vertical array in Hamburg.
China’s Guosheng starts building 10 GW HJT cell factory
Guosheng says it will invest CNY 5.2 billion ($722 million) in a new 10 GW heterojunction (HJT) solar cell production facility.
JinkoSolar ships 52 GW in first 9 months of 2023
JinkoSolar says it shipped 52 GW of PV modules in the first nine months of 2023, bringing its total shipments to 190 GW since its foundation.
Trina reveals new US factory plans
Trina Solar has revealed plans to build a new factory in Wilmer, Texas. It will source polysilicon from unspecified locations in Europe and the United States.
JA Solar to build 5 GW of cell capacity in Vietnam
GCL Technology Holdings Limited reported strong revenue for the first half of 2023, while JA Solar says it will invest CNY 2.72 billion ($374.8 million) in 5 GW of N-type solar cell capacity in Vietnam.
Airtouch Solar launches cleaning robot solution for utility scale PV
Airtouch Solar Group has launched a cleaning solution for utility-scale solar PV plants to provide autonomous, water-free panel surface cleaning. The 4-meter cleaning unit weighs less than 40 kg and is commonly utilized in arid and dusty locations.
European solar manufacturers secure EU financial support
Norsun and Midsummer have both secured financing to support their capacity expansion plans. Norway’s Norsun plans to raise its polysilicon capacity to 3 GW and Midsummer wants to build a 200 MW module facility in Sweden.
Fully printed carbon electrode perovskite solar cell achieves 19.2% efficiency
German scientists have fabricated a carbon electrode perovskite solar cell with a hole-transporting bilayer made of organic semiconductors instead of a conventional hole transport layer. They claim this approach improves the device’s fill factor and open-circuit voltage.
New study finds growing inequality in metal footprints of renewable power value chains
A US-Chinese research team has investigated the flow of iron, copper, aluminum, and other precious metals from source to end-use destination in the renewable energy infrastructure value chain. It found significant imbalances that can be attributed to the continuous outsourcing of metal demand for the renewable power sector to developing economies.
