Manufacturing

Dustin Mulvaney is a solar industry veteran. Associate professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, San José State University, in the United States, he recently published a new book this April, Solar Power, Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice, which looks at creating a “more sustainable and just solar industry for the future.” A part of this is the creation of a new global sustainability module standard. He spoke with pv magazine as part of the launch of our new UP initiative.

While module makers are attempting to get the best possible scores for their products on third-party tests, third-party testing providers are also offering competing products to rank products. We look at what’s similar and what’s different in the tests.

Having acted against Turkey, the Trump administration has removed India too from the list of nations exempt from import tariffs on solar cells and modules.

The acquisition would be made through Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL)—a joint venture of three public-sector mining units—which recently visited the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) to explore the possibility of lithium acquisition.

Falling PV panel prices led to notable year-on-year falls in the cost of developing solar plants around the world. India led the way with PV projects costing a weighted average of just $793/kW of capacity installed in 2018. Costs in China dipped to $879/kW last year, while solar projects in US and Australia cost $1,500.

While the world’s biggest solar manufacturers are confident there are plenty of alternative markets for a rising volume of panel exports, the message spelled out by first-quarter shipment figures is that protectionism works.

The Mumbai-based engineering company, which acquired a majority stake in electric scooter maker Ampere Vehicles last year, is currently building a supply chain for the proposed EV battery manufacturing plant.

Chinese solar modules currently meet around 80% of India’s demand. Domestic modules face stiff competition from those imported from China, which cost 10-20% less, even after the imposition of safeguard duties.

With Narendra Modi’s government stunning pollsters with another huge victory, the solar industry expects renewable power momentum to be maintained with steps including anti-dumping duty on solar module imports, a national policy for rooftop solar and an emphasis on easing private-sector participation in the power sector.

With Turkey now deemed too developed to qualify for exemption from import tariffs, the nascent Indian solar manufacturing sector is one of the few markets left whose cells and modules can be shipped to the U.S. free of tariffs.