Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Wood Mackenzie says that JinkoSolar has taken first place on its list of solar panel manufacturers. The report confirms the dominance of the TOPCon technology but also notes that heterojunction and back contact panel manufacturers are increasing their production share.

A $2 billion allocation from the Australian government to its ‘green bank’ Clean Energy Finance Corporation will boost investment commitments in renewable energy generation and storage, electric vehicles, infrastructure and natural capital.

JinkoSolar’s latest n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules delivered higher energy yield per watt than a competitor’s n-type back contact (BC) modules in a three-month field test in Japan, under varying irradiance levels.

Victoria-headquartered technology solutions company Allume Energy is choosing to scale up the domestic manufacture of its apartment building energy management system SolShare in Australia, saying the benefits far outweighs moving offshore.

The Australian government has announced a $2 billion investment designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of the nation’s aluminium smelters, encouraging them to switch from fossil fuels to renewable electricity within the next decade.

Aiko Solar has started production at its Jinan factory, its third facility for n-type all-back-contact solar modules. The plant is designed for 30 GW of solar cell and panel capacity, with the first 10 GW phase set to reach full output by late 2025.

Independent testing of JinkoSolar’s N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem solar cell has achieved a conversion efficiency of 33.84%, surpassing the company’s previous record of 33.24%,

In five key trends, pv magazine looks back over a year that saw PV module prices fall lower than many thought possible, while demand was restrained by grid congestion, among other challenges. Energy storage has had a strong year and geopolitics is seeing solar and battery manufacturing enter new regions as competition drives technical innovation.

The solar industry has dragged its heels on the issue of silver-dependence for cell metallisation, but China’s Jiangsu Xianghuan Technology (JXTC) is moving into commercial production with a copper plating process that overcomes many of the challenges that have limited interest from cell manufacturers.

A Trinasolar efficiency record of 27.08% has been announced for large-area high efficiency n-type fully passivated HJT solar cells, certified by Germany’s leading solar energy research lab.