Asia

The U.S. Trade Representative has not responded to the claim that it will end the exemption from Section 201 duties. If accurate this could be a loss for Asian PV makers and a minor loss for the larger U.S. market, but a positive for First Solar.

In this interview Trina Solar’s President of America Steven Zhu provides a longer perspective on the current U.S.-China trade war, and also speaks to the evolution of Trina’s offerings in the U.S. market.

The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report reiterates that clean power is taking the lead in the world’s energy system and nuclear is not only too costly a remedy for carbon emissions but too slow to deploy.

While the damage is largely already done for cells, modules and inverters, the increased tariffs on U.S. module components and 15% tariffs on lithium-ion batteries are not good news for either sector.

The energy storage market is set to be the latest affected by Trump’s trade war, and lithium-ion batteries were not included in a group of Chinese imports where tariffs will be delayed until December 15.

Six months after settling claims in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of its U.S. distribution subsidiary, the Chinese PV maker says it has signed more than 500 MW of U.S. module supply contracts.

First Solar has reported the largest quarterly production run and shipment volume in its history, and more than 2 GW of bookings in July alone. And with more factories underway, the thin film PV maker is just getting started.

The high efficiency solar maker pulled off a rare profit during the second quarter due to selling off leases, but expects to report another loss during Q3.

The Norwegian polysilicon supplier – which has most of its manufacturing operations on U.S. soil – cannot give any estimate on when its production of polysilicon for solar will return, and has been left entirely dependent on the semiconductor products made by its Montana facility.

Elon Musk’s EV and energy company is becoming increasingly irrelevant in the rooftop solar market, but battery sales are booming.