China

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.

Alta Devices has not located a white-knight investor to save the company and resume its PV cell production. That means no health care or COBRA for its furloughed employees.

Unannounced layoffs with no pay or benefits have left more than 600 American workers in the U.S., 180 employees in Germany, and thousands in China unemployed and in the dark. A number of employees reached out to tell their story.

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.”

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.

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.

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.