Members of congress warn of REC Silicon plant closure
A group of senators and representatives from Washington and Montana led by the top democrat on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee are calling on President Trump to negotiate with China and save REC’s Moses Lake facility.
American-Made Challenge gets five generals
NREL has chosen five companies to help administer the America-Made Solar Prize, a program whose stated goal is to develop U.S.-based solar manufacturing. These five companies receive contracts of $100,000 each for their services.
Hanwha Q Cells to make half-cut mono modules at U.S. factory
The Korean-European PV maker has revealed that its new U.S. factory will make modules based on half-cut monocrystalline cells using passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology.
SunPower’s back-contact technology excluded from Section 201 tariffs
The role of SunPower’s planned purchase of SolarWorld Americas in getting a rare reprieve from the Trump Administration’s bellicose trade actions is unclear.
SMA prepping for ‘exponential growth’, shipping solar inverters ready for AC-coupled energy storage
The SMA Sunny Boy-Storage is now shipping to the United States. The inverter offers 3.7/5.0/6.0 sizes and can accept up to three AC-coupled battery connections. SMA believes the solar + storage market will offer exponential growth.
SolarEdge and Panasonic sitting in a tree…
The HIT S-Series smart module is being launched via a collaboration between Panasonic and SolarEdge. The pair is aiming to boost the installation speed and total electricity output of solar modules. The initial unit noted is a 330W solar module.
Scientists claim 10% saving for black silicon cell production with dry etching
Researchers from Michigan Technological University and Finland’s Aalto University say they have demonstrated that the cost per unit of power of black silicon PERC cells could fall 10.8%, despite an increase in cell processing cost.
Silfab unveils US manufacturing site with $40 million investment in Itek Energy
Canada-based Silfab Solar has invested US$40 million in U.S. solar PV module manufacturer, Itek Energy, LLC’s Bellingham, Washington production facility.
Elon Musk scraps plan to take Tesla private
The company’s shares have returned to a level slightly above where they were prior to the August 7 announcement.
Researchers propose doubling today’s solar panel efficiency using two weird tricks
By double stacking a perovskite-silicon solar cell and using the cell in a glass-on-glass bifacial solar module, scientists model that a 30-36% efficient solar module can be attained.
