Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The Korean company has committed to invest in solar innovation in Germany at a time when the EU and member states are desperately trying to kick-start the Covid-19 recovery.

Risen Australia and distributer One Stop Warehouse signed an expanded 150 MW distribution agreement last week, marking the Chinese module maker’s attempt to further expand its share of the rooftop market segment. With Risen’s new heterojunction (HJT) module, the 415-435 W Sieger, moving into mass production, One Stop Warehouse’s Leo Ye says that the “new, fresh” technology will be a welcome addition to the Australian rooftop market segment.

The Chinese-Canadian company has unveiled a range of high-power modules which are set to go into mass production by early next year. The series includes a commercial and industrial rooftop-dedicated product offering a reported 405 W.

An international research group has developed a self-cooling PV system featuring a 250 W 60-cell polycrystalline module and a thermal collector attached to the back side of the panel. The cleaning tech is based on a microcontroller programmable integrated circuit, which controls a rotating DC motor.

New research from Wood Mackenzie shows that overall system costs for installations using mono PERC modules are set to fall by as much as 20% by 2025.

The spherical 3D cells can reportedly generate around 101% more power than conventional flat solar cells. Measurements have also shown that the spherical cells provide a 10% lower maximum temperature compared to flat cells, while accumulating less dust.

The Düsseldorf Regional Court has agreed Chinese rivals of the Korean manufacturer illegally used its patented passivation technology. The judges granted Hanwha Q-Cells an injunction which requires Jinko, REC and Longi to retrieve all modules featuring the patented technology distributed in Germany since late January last year. Hanwha can also opt to have the offending products destroyed.

As the solar industry moves to embrace ultra-high-efficiency modules, the Chinese PV heavyweight has unveiled TrinaPro Mega, the first integrated solar system in the world that incorporates 500W+ modules. The solution is expected to be particularly attractive for Australia’s utility-scale PV sector.

Despite the challenges to both the manufacturing and shipment of its products during the period, JinkoSolar today reported that it shipped 3.4 GW of modules in the first quarter of 2020, bringing its revenue for the quarter just over the billion dollar mark.

A new report from Rocky Mountain Institute in the U.S. explores the need for companies to disclose information about greenhouse gas emissions throughout their supply chains, and the most effective ways to do this whilst ensuring consistency and comparability of collected data across multiple industries.