Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

GoodWe has developed a residential solar carport that features its Polaris building-integrated PV (BIPV) panels. The carport, which is available in 4.8 kW and 8.0 kW variants, is designed to host one or two vehicles, respectively.

Researchers at the Australian National University are part of the international team that has built an all-perovskite tandem solar cell based on a wide-bandgap top perovskite cell with a 20.5% efficiency. The 1 cm2 scale tandem device achieved the highest efficiency yet reported for all-perovskite solar cells of this size.

Chinese manufacturing giant Trinasolar says it could be making panels in Australia as soon as 2027 as part of its joint-venture plans with Sydney-based PV innovator SunDrive Solar.

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme says in its latest report that 2023 was a record-breaking but tumultuous year for solar development. It says the manufacturing industry faces pressure from supply-demand imbalances, with overcapacity causing prices to collapse.

A study by German research institute Fraunhofer ISE has revealed a troubling trend. Data shows that modules are increasingly attributed higher power ratings than they actually have. Though the percentages are incremental, it all
adds up.

The results of this year’s Kiwa PVEL scorecard have shown that TOPCon technology is more vulnerable than PERC, and the failure rate at bill of materials has increased to 41%, the highest in history, according to the testing lab.

The International Energy Agency’s latest report, which maps out the future evolution of clean energy manufacturing, says the combined global market for PV, wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolysers, and heat pumps will rise from $1 trillion in 2023 to more than $3 trillion by 2035.

The Chinese manufacturer said the result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin.

China’s Longi Green Energy has set a new world record for crystalline silicon solar module efficiency with its independently developed hybrid passivated back contact (HPBC) 2.0 module, achieving a conversion efficiency of 25.4%, according to a certification report from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).

Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar has used the All Energy Australia 2024 exhibition and conference being staged in Melbourne to launch its next generation Tiger Neo 3.0 modules that are available in two series with power outputs of 495 W and 670 W.