Asia

Q Cells plans to manufacture 3.3 GW of solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished modules in a new facility in the US state of Georgia.

The Northern Territory government remains upbeat about the future of the $30 billion-plus (USD 20.7 billion) Australia-Asia PowerLink project despite the company behind what would be the world’s biggest solar and energy storage project having abruptly entered voluntary administration.

Philippines-based energy company ACEN Corporation plans to capitalise on Australia’s “unparalleled renewables potential” after securing a $277 million (USD 191 million) loan facility which it says will be accelerate the delivery of an 8 GW clean energy portfolio that includes solar, wind, battery storage and pumped hydro.

Sun Cable, the developer of the world’s largest solar and battery project, backed by two of Australia’s most powerful energy players – Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brooks – has entered voluntary administration. It is not yet clear what this will mean for the company’s hallmark project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink, though the company’s executives appear optimistic.

Trina Solar says its industrial tunnel-oxide passivated contact (i-TOPCon) solar cells, based on 210 mm wafers, have started rolling off the production line at its 8 GW factory in China. It will use the n-type cells to produce its new Vertex N modules, with power outputs ranging up to 605 W, and an efficiency rating of 22.4%.

Australian miner Core Lithium has made the transition to lithium producer with 15,000 tonnes of unprocessed ore from its Finniss mine in the Northern Territory now heading to China where it will be converted into materials for the global renewable energy storage and electric vehicle markets.

Chinese manufacturer Huasun launched a new line of five heterojunction (HJT) solar modules in 2022, with power outputs ranging from 680 W to 700 W. The company has now added a new 715 W module to the series.

Chinese scientists have developed a new way to split seawater into hydrogen without using a separate desalination process. They incorporated a self-breathable waterproof membrane and a self-dampening electrolyte (SDE) into the electrolyser, so water migrates from the seawater across the membrane to the SDE, without extra energy consumption.

Sineng Electric has switched on a 400 MW/800 MWh storage facility in China’s Shandong province. The project features the company’s 3.15 MW turnkey battery stations.

Longi said it has achieved a 26.56% efficiency rating for a gallium-doped, p-type heterojunction solar cell and a 26.09% efficiency rating for an indium-free HJT cell, both based on M6 wafers. Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin has confirmed the results.