Manufacturing

In this interview with pv magazine USA SunPower CEO Tom Werner gets into the why and how of his company’s purchase of SolarWorld Americas, and what to expect from SolarWorld’s Oregon factory in the future.

Global solar PV inverter shipment are expected to increase just 2% this year, to just over 100 GWac, GTM Research’s Scott Moskowitz tells pv magazine. He further reveals that Huawei knocked SMA off the top revenue spot in 2017, for the first time.

The German inverter maker sold 8.5 GW of solar PV inverters last year. Revenue, however, dropped by €50 million, while net profit remained flat at €30 million.

Roughly seven months after its new beginning, the German solar PV manufacturer has again filed for insolvency at the District Court of Bonn – the second time in one year. SolarWorld blames the planned phasing out of anti-dumping measures by the EU Commission against Chinese competition and the further drop in prices.

Japanese electronics giant, Sharp has announced the achievement of a 25.09% conversion efficiency, from a cell utilizing both heterojunction (HJT) and back contact technology. The measurement has been validated by Japan Electrical Safety & Environment Technology Laboratories (JET).

Annual International Roadmap for Photovoltaics, compiled by the German production equipment industrial association (VDMA), reveals slowdown in module price reduction for 2017 in contrast to significant market increase that saw module production capacity rise above 130 GW.

The list includes many of the big names in the industry as well as a request to exempt the entire EU panel industry.

The struggling microinverter maker narrowed its losses considerably in Q4, as it unveils new products and expands in new markets.

Only one month after announcing a PERC module efficiency of 20.41%, the Chinese solar manufacturer announced it has now achieved a 23.6% efficiency for its PERC monocrystalline cells, thus beating its own previous records.

As a part of its expanding quality and certification program, the Clean Energy Council has taken action to suspend or delist eight solar suppliers in the first two months of 2018. The action has applied to 156 PV module or inverter models, including Shenzhen Sofarsolar inverter 3000TL, which the CEC announced on Wednesday had failed testing.