First Solar acquires perovskite specialist Evolar
First Solar has agreed to pay $38 million to buy Swedish manufacturing startup Evolar AB, as it seeks to expand development of high-efficiency tandem PV tech.
Longi posts 60% annual revenue increase despite polysilicon pricing sensitivity
Longi shipped 46.8 GW of silicon modules, representing three years of sequential growth from 24.5 GW shipped in 2020.
Enphase posts lower Q1 23 earnings, comments on NEM 3.0 market adaptation
Management sees NEM 3.0 changes as a net positive for California and expects strong demand for solar-plus-storage in coming quarters, with installers likely taking another four months of training for integrated systems.
Ascent boosts production with acquisition of 15 MW Swiss thin-film producer
With the closing of this deal, Ascent will triple its production capacity from its 5 MW of existing nameplate capacity production.
Solar-powered cannabis cultivation
Cannabis prohibition drove a culture of clandestine production in the past and solar helped growers to cultivate it at remote, off-grid sites. Now, as a global commercial cannabis market emerges, solar has an even bigger role to play.
Weekly Solar Earnings Recap: Array, Pineapple Energy and SMA Solar
pv magazine USA’s recap of notable upstream solar, integrated solar, finance and rooftop installers that reported fourth quarter or fiscal year earnings over the last week.
Wärtsilä battery passes UL 9540A fire certification milestone
Rigorous testing for grid-scale lithium-ion storage systems involved heating battery cells to induce thermal runaway within Wärtsilä’s storage module. Performing fire tests reveals critical information to the manufacturer, first responders and asset owners about how the battery system reacts in the unlikely event of a cell failure.
Ultrathin solar cells self-repair radiation damage in space
Third-party testing confirms a high level of resilience to the conditions of space in silicon-based solar cells developed by Arizona-based Solestial.
Researchers evaluate viability of ‘direct’ green hydrogen fuel production
Rather than using solar or wind to power electrolysis, researchers are testing the competitiveness of photoelectrochemical cells for producing emissions-free hydrogen fuels.
TOPCon shingle solar cell achieves 22.0% efficiency via thermal laser separation
Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE and US panel maker Solaria have applied thermal laser separation and post-metallization passivated edge technology to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell production. They have developed shingle PV devices that are more efficient than cells built with conventional laser scribing and mechanical cleaving methods.
