Manufacturing

“Australia’s critical minerals are at the centre of an important moment in history which could dictate the shape of the world that we will live in for the next century,” federal resources minister Madeleine King told the Rare Earth Conference in Canberra. With the strategy to grow critical mineral supply chains between Australia and the US gaining momentum, this concept of “friendshoring” was in the spotlight at All Energy 2022.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says in a new report that PV module lifetime extensions should be prioritised over closed-loop recycling to reduce demand for new materials.

Jinko Solar recorded a higher profit in the third quarter of 2022, as sales of its solar panels surpassed 10 GW. The Chinese PV module manufacturer said it now wants to ramp up production to keep pace with rising global demand.

New releases, a confluence of auspicious milestones, and output growing by gigawatts gave Trina Solar in Australia cause to celebrate at All-Energy this week.

A new study has calculated that the globalised PV module supply chain has saved billions for PV installers in Germany, the US and China. It also found that if strong nationalistic policies that limit the free flow of talent and capital were implemented going forward, solar panel costs would be 20-25% higher by 2030.

A commercial and residential solar installation company with diversified interests as a developer of some of Australia’s biggest solar farms, Leeson Group is now taking a high-performance, Australian-engineered solar roof tile to the global market.

The Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory revealed that most of the planned new solar cell production capacity relates to high-efficiency n-type cell technologies such as TOPCon and HJT.

ASX-listed Vulcan Energy, a company working on a project in Germany that it says will deliver ‘zero carbon’ lithium by combining geothermal plants with lithium electrolysis, today announced its pilot produced high grade lithium hydroxide which ‘easily exceeds’ battery grade specification.

Spanish scientists have built a cooling system featuring heat exchangers on solar panels and U-shape heat exchangers installed in a borehole at a depth of 15 meters. The researchers claim that this reduces panel temperatures by up to 17%, while improving performance by about 11%.

Former Tindo Solar CEO, Shayne Jaenisch, outlines how Australia’s renewables industry can avoid forced labour, cut waste, secure its supply chains and create a domestic manufacturing industry.