Hanwha Q-Cells sues Jinko, Longi for patent infringement in Australia
The Korean solar manufacturer has lodged a lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia against Chinese panel makers Jinko and Longi following similar allegations in the U.S. and Germany.
Longi’s 5 GW high-efficiency mono PERC factory will be at full capacity ‘soon’
The Chinese mono giant is already producing bifacial half cut modules at its new Anhui fab after the completion of an initial 2.5 GW phase of operations. And the company president confirmed Longi is on track for 45 GW of mono wafer and ingot production capacity next year.
Tesla borrows $520m from Chinese state-owned lenders for Shanghai Gigafactory
The electric carmaker has signed 12-month credit agreements with three of China’s ‘Big Four’ lenders as well as the development bank for Shanghai as it aims to get its lower-priced Model 3s rolling off the production line by the end of the year.
China stirs the PV world – by preparing to shift to auction mechanism
Projects not encompassed by the new, central-subsidy-free, ‘grid-parity’ regime will be eligible to bid for a government subsidy. But, at a reported $446 million, the pot is not big.
Tesla dives deeper into energy storage, as solar slumps
Elon Musk’s company is seeing tremendous success with its EVs and global manufacturing, and dramatically scaling its energy storage deployment, but the Solar Roof is still not being widely deployed.
Jinko achieves 24.2% efficiency for its n-type monocrystalline cell
The Chinese module maker said the result was certified by the Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems Quality Test Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The record, Jinko said, is thanks to its high quality n-type wafers, selective doping technology and advanced fine-line printing.
China installed 44.1 GW of solar in 2018, according to official NEA data
The world’s biggest solar market reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of 174.63 GW at the end of last year.
PERC cell efficiency records tumble
Last week, Chinese manufacturers Risen Energy and LONGi both announced conversion efficiency records for PERC cells as the twin quest to drive down costs and increase energy output shows no sign of abating.
Energytrend: Stockpiles down, utilization and prices recovering
The Taiwanese market research company has published its latest price trend data for PV modules, cells, wafers and silicon. Across the value chain, rising demand is causing stockpiles to dwindle and utilization rates to rise. Prices are rising in China as well as for high-efficiency products. Module prices have stabilized.
Tesla begins construction of Shanghai gigafactory
The EV and battery maker wants to start production of its Model 3 for the Chinese market by the end of the year. Next year, according to high-profile CEO Elon Musk, mass production of electric cars will start there, and this is expected to include their batteries as well.
