Asia

Alta’s COO: “An agreement has been reached between Alta Devices and Hanergy to allow Alta to bring in outside investors to breathe new life into the company, and to get the thin film GaAs technology leader back on track.”

Vikram Solar recently announced three commercial sized solar modules for the US market – a framed and frameless bifacial, and a half cut standard monoPERC – whose peak output ranges from 375 through 425 watts, available starting in January 2020.

U.S. trade authorities plan to issue an initial determination finding non-infringement on the company’s patents by JinkoSolar, LONGi and REC Group, which could prevent Hanwha from shutting their PERC-based products out of the U.S. market. Hanwha intends to appeal.

The company’s transformation from a manufacturer to the 2nd-largest residential solar company in the United States is complete with it spinning off of its high-efficiency cell and module production into a new company, in partnership with Chinese wafer maker TZS.

The thin film PV maker reported solid third quarter results, following on the opening of its massive 1.3 GW factory in Ohio.

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.