Hot electrons? Surface plasmons? Thin-film solar innovation marches on
Thin-film solar startup PI Energy didn’t disclose the photovoltaic materials system it’s been commercializing, other than to say that it wasn’t CIGS, CdTe, or perovskites.
Analyst expects recovery for PV and storage supply chains
Analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.
Tesla claims its New York factory built 4 MW of solar roof tiles last week, ‘enough for 1,000 homes’
Although every box of shingles we examined came from Changzhou, China, not the factory in New York.
Morning Brief: Reporting from Shanghai on implications of the outbreak on the solar supply chain
Also in the brief: Enphase ships storage; homeless encampments using secondhand solar; big batteries.
BNEF lowers 2020 global PV outlook due to coronavirus concerns
Many solar factories in China are starting to resume production, suggesting that concerns about supplies of PV components could soon begin to ease. Nevertheless, the temporary standstill will have an impact on the global solar market, as the implementation of some projects will probably be postponed until next year.
Polysilicon giant Daqo shrugs off COVID-19 fears with positive outlook for 2020
The Chinese polysilicon giant’s net income fell nearly 23% year-on-year to $29.5 million in fiscal 2019, even though it posted a 16% year-on-year jump in revenue to $350 million. It expects its polysilicon output to soar in the year ahead, despite the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Solutions to replacing aging and failing inverters
Optimizer manufacturer Alencon has published a paper outlining the technical challenges and solutions to replacing the largely-obsolete and frequently-failing 600-volt central inverters used in older PV projects.
Jinko enters the residential solar game with a bang
The new n-type panels, which offer 405W of power output and an efficiency rate of 21.22%, are the manufacturer’s first designed specifically for homes.
Bifacial PV modules are going mainstream but more field data is needed — and NREL is on the case
Getting the most out of a bifacial module requires a rethink at almost every level of system design and the industry is hungry for field data generated by such systems to better inform energy yield modeling and define the best approaches to maximizing yield at minimal cost. NREL’s three-year study into bifacial performance is beginning to yield results.
Hanergy subsidiary Solibro Hi-Tech is liquidated
No potential investor could be found to take over the thin-film solar business. Insolvency proceedings started a few days ago and the business operations of the CIGS thin-film company were finally halted.
