Manufacturing

Almost a year after the opening of its assembly and manufacturing facility at the site of the old Holden factory, German battery manufacturer Sonnen can now officially say its products are made in the land of kangaroos.

Former Suntech President Shi Zhengrong says that China’s “solar cluster” has worked in an organized way to achieve both scale and product quality and performance. Known widely as Dr Shi, the true solar pioneer is attending next week’s All Energy Australia event, and will be speaking at pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable.

The Norwegian solar manufacturer is planning to debut its Alpha Series heterojunction (HJT) modules at next week’s All-Energy event in Melbourne. Touted as the world’s highest power 60-cell solar panels, the new series promises over 20% more energy production than other modules with the same footprint and added value for home owners.

South Korean solar module maker Hanwha Q Cells has launched Q.Home in Australia, its new integrated residential solar power system which has seen success in the European market.

An Italian research team has developed a device that it says can easily be integrated into a PV cell, and can boost its efficiency by converting more light particles into a high energy state before they are absorbed by the cell. The scientists claim that their innovation could offer a green‐to‐blue photon upconversion yield as high as 15%.

Inverter manufacturer SolarEdge has filed three additional patent infringement lawsuits against its competitor, Huawei, in China. This comes after three similar legal actions against Huawei that had been undertaken by SolarEdge in Germany last summer. While Huawei has decided not to comment on the matter, the Chinese manufacturer revealed that it had filed three patent litigation claims against SolarEdge at a Chinese court this May.

Chinese monocrystalline PV giant Longi entered the Australian marketplace a little over two years ago, and it hasn’t wasted a moment in aggressively pursuing both rooftop and large scale market share. Richard Qian, a Longi Australia product engineer, says its high efficiency modules present a compelling offering, underpinned by the company’s commitment to durability and reliability.

Microquanta Semiconductor holds a 17.25% efficiency record for a relatively large-area perovskite module and wants to build a production facility with fresh capital from investors. pv magazine takes a look at the Chinese startup and some of the basic questions surrounding the technology.

A 3 MW LG powered solar panel installation on the rooftop of Moorebank Logistics Park in Sydney is one of the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and indeed the world.

Plans to develop an 18 GWh lithium-ion battery factory in northern Queensland have reached an important milestone with the project feasibility study submitted to the Queensland government.