Asia

The device has an area of 802cm² and thickness of 2mm. The manufacturer claims it improved module performance through an inkjet coating method and a reduction in weight by using thin glass substrates.

The Chinese government will extend duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon for another five years despite committing to buy $200 billion more U.S. goods and services over the next two years in return for America halving 15% tariffs applied to $120 billion worth of Chinese products.

Vincent Shaw reports: An insider at the China Photovoltaic Industry Association has told pv magazine there was an end-of-year rally after less than 18 GW of new capacity was installed to the end of November.

Solar module efficiency records continue to fall. Longi claims a 22.38% efficiency world record for a PERC mono panel, while Jinko has achieved conversion efficiencies of 21.82% and 22.49% for its p-type PERC and n-type HOT bifacial panels, respectively.

Some 15 countries are able to lay claim to the status of being members of solar’s “gigawatt club” in 2019, according to projections from BloombergNEF. To kick off 2020, pv magazine’s global team of correspondents and editors have highlighted 10 fast-growing solar markets to evaluate where the opportunities, and potential risks, lie.

The Japanese electronics giant has unveiled three monocrystalline half-cut cell modules said to provide 2% to 3% better performance than standard, full-cell panels. The claimed efficiency of the modules exceeds 19.5% and Sharp says power output ranges from 330 W to 395 W.

Insolvency proceedings have been underway for Solibro GmbH since late summer, and business operations have long been suspended. This week another Hanergy subsidiary, Solibro Hi-Tech, has also declared insolvency.

Is First Solar stalled in innovation and growth? Markus Beck, a thin-film solar expert and former chief scientist at First Solar, provides an industry perspective on the fate of thin-film PV in the U.S.

Venture capital is still flowing to energy storage startups and the march to improve a wide variety of battery chemistries continues.