Asia

The newly minted merger of Neo Solar Power, Gintech and Solartech is planning a module factory, the second such factory to be announced by a large Asian PV maker since tariffs were finalized.

The President’s proclamation provides a path for specific products to apply for exemption from tariffs, which had been sought by both SunPower and the government of Korea. Additionally, imports from a number of developing nations are exempt as long as import levels remain small.

The latest reactions to President Trump’s tariffs on imported solar include the Korean Government’s announcement that it will file a petition with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Mexico’s promise of legal action.

Over the past five years, the pattern of imports has moved away from China and towards Southeast Asia and Korea.

BNEF has released its top 10 clean energy predictions for 2018, including at least 107 GW of solar PV installs. China will lead, but Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East will notably up the ante. India will install less RE than in 2017, but will see fossils outpace RE for the last time; and China will see distributed grid connected solar leading the market. Li-ion prices are also declining, while EV sales grow.

BNEF has found that U.S. investment levels fell 1% year-over-year, with the Section 201 case hanging over the head of the industry.

The last round of the trade war decimated U.S. polysilicon, and Hemlock Semiconductor is calling on Trump to address this in the Section 201 remedy.

The International Energy Agency has released a manual for policy makers on the issues involved in the large scale integration of solar and wind power into power grids.

The U.S. development division of the Japanese thin film PV maker has now developed and sold six utility-scale solar projects totaling 173 MW.

In this interview Mark Widmar talks about the market for PV modules and his company’s supply situation, First Solar’s position in the Section 201 case, and the role he sees for solar in the future of energy.