The PV maker’s quarterly results show not only the ramping of its Series 6 production at a third location, but also bookings that continuing to climb, with 11.3 GW of modules now under contract.

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China, India and Japan, Asia-Pacific remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

On October 25, pv magazine will host a webinar, powered by JinkoSolar, in which the China-based manufacturer will present the case for using bifacial modules in large-scale solar plants, and discuss the influencing factors and their impact on bifacial PV tracking. In the following Q&A, JinkoSolar’s Andrea Viaro, Head of Technical Service Europe, JinkoSolar, and Colin Caufield, VP of Sales North America, Soltec provide a sneak peak into the technology and the advantages tracking can bring to bifacial technology.

Analysts at Taiwan-based EnergyTrend and China’s PV Infolink have reported a further increase in demand for monocrystalline solar cells and modules in recent days. Their respective analyses on multi-crystalline products, however, do not match.

According to the Gold Member Solar Report by EnergyTrend (Q3 2018), monocrystalline module prices have fallen almost 20% this year, while those for polycrystalline modules have dropped by more than 25%. Increased consolidation among manufacturers and developers is expected to occur in China and the global solar market, with more merger deals, plans for capacity reductions and even factory closures.

At first glance, the European PV conference last week has confirmed the widespread view that the upswing of monocrystalline technology will accelerate. But a closer look reveals that multicrystalline solar cells are still in the game.

The Chinese-Canadian module manufacturer says its P4-based BiHiKu panel, for large commercial and utility-scale solar projects, is able to provide up to 30 per cent additional output from the rear side.

Canadian Solar Inc. says it has entered into agreements with Dr. Shawn Qu and several unidentified potential equity partners regarding the plans to take the manufacturer private. It has also sold 30 MW worth of PV plants to its infrastructure fund in Japan.

According to the Taiwanese analysts, the solar PV module market is still stable. However, EnergyTrend expects a new price war to erupt with the end of minimum import tariffs (MIPs). In particular, Taiwanese manufacturers will have to cope with increasing price pressure.

Production of high-efficiency solar PV modules in the Austrian region of Carinthia should commence as early as December 2018. Using a fully automated production line, Energetica Industries says it is well equipped for competition with Asian manufacturers.