Manufacturing

The Chinese mono giant is already producing bifacial half cut modules at its new Anhui fab after the completion of an initial 2.5 GW phase of operations. And the company president confirmed Longi is on track for 45 GW of mono wafer and ingot production capacity next year.

The U.S.-based tracker manufacturer has been chosen to supply its DuraTrack HZ v3 solar trackers to one of Australia’s largest PV projects – the 333 MW DC (275 MW AC) solar farm at Darlington Point, NSW.

U.S.-based high efficiency module maker SunPower is introducing its new Maxeon 3 module series to the Australian marketplace. At 370W, 390 and 400 W, the modules lead the field for power output. U.S. customers will, however, be the first to see the company’s larger format A-Series modules.

The Korean solar manufacturer has lodged a patent infringement lawsuit against Jinko and REC in Germany, and two more against the same companies plus Longi in the U.S. Hanwha Q Cells claims its three rivals have used its patented solar cell passivation technology to increase the performance of their products.

After announcing its entry into residential storage a week ago, the Munich-based multinational has now unveiled a plan to acquire inverter manufacturer Kaco. Siemens has not provided details about the value of the transaction.

Jinko Solar has launched a new bifacial solar module, with a clear backsheet manufactured by DuPont, to compete with standard glass-on-glass bifacial products, as well to create markets where bifacial might not have previously fit.

The California-based microinverter maker posted $92 million in revenue in the final quarter of last year, and more than $106 million in cash as the company reported its first positive quarterly and annual operating income figures in years. Enphase is booked out for all of this quarter and seemingly into the late spring months too.

The French power electronics specialist is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.

Having quickly proven their performance boosting potential and durability, anti-reflective coatings are now found on the majority of modules rolling off the world’s production lines. Today, coating suppliers are looking to tackle losses from soiling as well as reflection, and working to keep up with cost reductions and extended lifetime expectations at module level. Older modules, installed without a coating, could also be set to benefit from their latest innovations.

Enphase says its inverter lead times are ~13-15 weeks, even with dedicated manufacturing lines for components. Two new long term contracts expect to turn on in Q3 and Q4 ’19, lowering lead times to ~6-8 weeks.