Manufacturing

Sun Cable continues to progress plans for the world’s biggest solar+storage project, lodging a development application for the first phase of a solar module manufacturing and assembly facility to be constructed in Darwin.

OCI has revealed plans to invest $55 million to expand production at its Malaysian manufacturing facility from 30,000 to 35,000 metric tons.

The new, Tiger Pro 54HC panel is based on a 182mm, 54-cell design and exhibits an efficiency of up to 21.3%. The manufacturer claims the new product is particularly suitable for residential projects in high snow or high wind load areas.

Who says size doesn’t matter? The talk of the solar industry town at the moment is the increasing module size. Trina Solar is right in the thick of this revolution with the release of several larger format modules back-to-back in recent months. As pv magazine Australia gets ready to host a webinar with Trina Solar Australia this coming Thursday, we sat down with one of the company’s APAC directors, Andrew Gilhooly, to talk shop.

As distributed PV grows, new grid codes have scared installers across some markets. Network operators want to gain control over grid export, even of smaller arrays. Additions of new array controllers and special gateways could be costly putting speedy development of PV at risk. Fret not, says Fimer, as the Italy-based power-electronics manufacturer has placed the solution to the problem already inside its latest inverter range.

The solar industry typically sees itself as being supportive of the environment, humanity, and human rights. Even large Chinese PV manufacturers publish statements to this effect, particularly if they are listed on Western stock exchanges. But what do human rights have to do with the solar industry? What connections exist, asks Martin Schachinger of pvXchange, and how are they important to the future success of the European PV market?

Australian lithium-ion battery manufacturer Energy Renaissance has warned of the threat posed by “nefarious actors” while detailing plans to develop “a defence-grade cybersecure” Battery Management System which will align with its superStorage range of batteries.

Russian scientists have developed a holographic film based on prismatic concentrators that reduces the operating temperature of solar panels, including thermal-photovoltaic devices. They claim the patented, low-cost technique can even improve PV module efficiency in cloudy weather.

Canadian Solar is pivoting towards energy storage and is preparing to IPO its manufacturing and Chinese solar project activity in China, under the CSI Solar operation, by July.

“Unprecedented” was a term widely used in 2020, as the world grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic. The same word can be similarly applied to the plans and investments in production capacity announced by Chinese PV manufacturers right across the supply chain. But what shape are these expansions taking and what is driving this renewed confidence? Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai.