Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Chinese PV module maker Risen Energy has announced it has achieved the highest jump in solar module sales in the Australian market in a one-year period.

‘Solar cells prefer to operate in a refrigerator,’ says UNSW Professor Martin Green. His global research team is now identifying viable ways to cool down solar PV modules while amping up energy production to an unprecedented level.

Western Australia-based solar glass developer ClearVue has signed a deal with Taiwanese thin-film solar module manufacturer BeyondPV to set up a dedicated production line for solar strip modules at its production facility in Tainan.

Australia has become the latest front in South Korean company Hanwha Q Cells’ legal battle against three competitors – JinkoSolar, Longi Solar, and REC Group – that it claims have infringed its patent on a particular aspect of passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technology. Among many speculations is the idea that the case splits layers with an indefensible claim, perhaps seeking to strategically impose a slowdown on Hanwha’s rivals.

Solar Juice has signed an agreement to distribute REC Group modules in Australia – in particular to target commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. The announcement last week, made no note of the patent lawsuit that Hanwha Q Cells has brought against REC Group in Australia, which includes two of its distributors.

Since 2009, when production capacity expansions began to outstrip demand for the first time, prices all along the solar supply chain fell, and have continued to do so almost continuously ever since. Simon Price, CEO of Exawatt, argues that solar is no longer in the ‘cost reduction era,’ and is now entering its ‘performance driven era,’ in which the goal for manufacturers is high performance at an acceptable cost, rather than acceptable performance at the lowest cost.

Taiwanese analyst Energytrend saw prices for high power products fall over the past week, but so far only in China. That trend could be replicated around the world next week, however.

The world’s number one mono silicon module manufacturer will add another 5 GW to its annual panel production capacity in 2020 as it pursues 16 GW of output this year and 25 GW next year.

Federal trade authorities have ruled that bifacial solar modules are no longer subject to the Section 201 ruling, which currently apply a 25% tariff to most solar modules imported to the United States.

In the petition, the manufacturers claim their Korean rival’s patent assertions should be declared invalid as there is evidence the innovations they refer to were either not new or were obvious steps forward.