Manufacturing

While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.

Hungarian tech company Platio Solar has developed a new solar PV paving line featuring monocrystalline and polycrystalline cells with clear or opal glass.

Australian battery minerals company Liontown Resources has completed negotiations to supply electric vehicle and battery maker Tesla with spodumene concentrate from its Kathleen Valley lithium project in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

Chinese scientists have developed an ultralight solar cell with perovskite film based on a 3-µm-thick polymer. It purportedly has a power conversion efficiency in line with that of perovskite cells of conventional thickness.

Prefabricated solar array manufacturer 5B has completed a $30 million Series B capital raise with their existing shareholders to help fund continued development of the company’s flagship modular Maverick solar array and accelerate the progress of the company’s pipeline of multi megawatt projects.

India’s rooftop solar installations increased by 34% year on year in the January-March period, despite a 17% increase in system costs.

A German consortium led by Fraunhofer IEE aims to bring gallium nitride inverters closer to commercial viability. The primary goal of the research project is the optimisation and miniaturisation of inverters, including passive components such as cooling systems, casings, and mounting structures.

Australian redox-flow battery specialist Redflow has upped the ante on its plans to expand into the United States market, announcing it has completed testing that will pave the way for its battery energy storage system to be used in conjunction with hybrid inverters manufactured by United States solar engineering company Sol-Ark.

Chinese battery manufacturer BYD has launched an expanded portfolio of energy storage systems designed for the commercial and industrial solar markets. At The smarter E in Munich last month the company also provided a sneak peak at a new high-voltage storage system expected to be launched later this year.

Trina Solar will eventually start selling TOPCon and heterojunction products, even though it built its first large-scale TOPCon project four years ago. The company says it is now making progress on TOPCon module production, despite supply chain issues.