Manufacturing

The U.S. ITC has released a report highlighting changes in the domestic solar cell and module manufacturing industry, showing that while there has been an increase in domestic module manufacturing, the overall program’s success, relative to the $740 million in tariffs, has created little measurable benefit.

Jinko shipped 14.2 GW of modules in 2019, up 33% from the previous year, the high mark in another year dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

Plenty of innovative hardware at the show that isn’t a module, battery or racking — as well as services and the Solar Games.

EMP/solar flare-hardened gear, storage-behind-the-PV-module and Generac made appearances at the Intersolar show in Southern California last week.

It depends. We attempt to do the math. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

Illegally re-badged panels were sold to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and Syria. Italian authorities found 60 tons of panels.

In part 2 of our interview, the SunPower brain trust talks about scaling-up its high-efficiency PV technology in a way that it has not been able to do in the past — now that it has cash and a definitive focus.

In sunny San Diego for Intersolar 2020, we’re seeing a new idea on tracking rooftop solar modules, diodes moving to the cell level, two types of building integrated solar products, and some solar hot water.

Amnesty International has denounced cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo for human rights violations and the use of child labor since 2016. This has led LG Chem and other companies to insist on standards for battery cell suppliers.

The efficiency of the cell, made with a standard M2 wafer, was raised 0.7% by using an improved busbar-free screen printing metallization based on heterojunction processes developed with manufacturing equipment provided by Swiss specialist Meyer Burger.