CHINA SOLAR PV NEWS UPDATE: WEEK 48
Our Weekly China Solar PV News Overview provides select stories on solar developments in the world's largest PV market, which have been published on?TaiyangNews - All About Solar. If you are interested in weekly solar updates on China, please subscribe. For our global daily newsletter, check our website https://taiyangnews.info/
MARKETS
Solar power generation to get RMB 1.18 billion subsidy in Inner Mongolia for 2024: The Department of Finance of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued the “Notice on the Advance Release of the 2024 Renewable Energy Price Additional Subsidy Fund Budget.” According to the notice, the region has budgeted a total subsidy of RMB 4.44834 billion ($624.1 million) for wind power and photovoltaic power generation in 2024. Wind power generation gets the greater share of subsidies with RMB 3.26773 billion ($458.5 million), while solar power gets RMB 1.18061 billion ($165.6 million).
China to install well over 200 GW solar in 2023: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has revised its global solar PV installation forecast for 2023 to between 410 GW and 415 GW, with China contributing as much as 240 GW. In comparison, Wood Mackenzie’s guidance for China seems quite conservative as it pegs Chinese solar and wind energy deployments in 2023 to a ‘record-breaking’ 230 GW.? Wood Mackenzie does not specify individual capacity addition for wind and solar, but its forecast exceeds the official target of 160 GW wind and solar capacity China was chasing for 2023 (see NEA Releases 2023 Energy Roadmap ).?Click here to read the entire story.
BUSINESS
Production / Cells & Modules
Suntech signs 300 MW annual PV module supply framework agreement: Solar cell and module manufacturer Suntech has announced that it has signed a 300 MW annual PV module supply framework agreement with a German customer. According to the contract, Suntech will supply a total of 300 MW of PV modules to it over the next 2 years. The unnamed German company, a well-known player in the field of wind energy, is said to be planning to make a major move into solar energy in 2023.
Production / Cells & Modules / HJT
Golden Solar’s HJT modules achieve 730 W power: Material Science Company Golden Solar has announced that its heterojunction (HJT) series photovoltaic (PV) modules have achieved the highest power of 730 W. The company says that this has been certified by TüV SüD . Golden Solar says that the power of its heterojunction series modules was increased from 690 W to 700 W, to now a maximum of 730 W. The high-efficiency large-size HJT JGDN132 series module that was part of the testing uses bifacial microcrystalline 210-18BB HJT cells independently produced at the company’s Jiuquan base. The company also says that the average efficiency has hit 25.6% in mass production. Earlier this month, Golden Solar announced the successful rollout of the 1st batch of its 182 half-cut bifacial HJT cells from the Jiuquan base (see China Solar PV News Snippets ).
Huasun launches Everest G12R rectangular cell HJT modules: Heterojunction (HJT) solar PV manufacturer HUASUN HJT has announced the launch of Everest G12R, its rectangular HJT solar module series. These modules are based on the HJT 3.0 high-efficiency solar cell technology and feature 182 mm * 105 mm rectangular cells. The series offers features like a bifacial microcrystalline structure, SMBB, light conversion film and PIB. The modules are designed to achieve a minimum efficiency of 23% and a power output of 640 W, 20W more than other rectangular modules of the same type. The Everest G12R series is available in 3 different versions:
Huasun is ranked among the top 3 in TaiyangNews Top Modules List since September 2023 (see Top Solar Modules Listing – November 2023 ). Recently, Huasun announced the successful completion of its RMB 2 billion ($279.5 million) Series C funding round (see China Solar PV News Snippets ).
Production / Cells & Modules / Perovskite
Mellow Energy to set up perovskite module fab in Xiangzhou District: PV energy application development company Mellow Energy has announced that it has signed investment agreements with Zhuhai Xiangzhou District and Huafa Group. According to the agreement, Mellow Energy will set up a perovskite solar PV module R&D and production headquarters in the Huafa Sanxi 5.0 new industrial space in Xiangzhou District. The facility will involve about RMB 2 billion ($280.6 million) in investment. Phase I of the 100 MW production line will be built with a total investment of RMB 500 million ($70.1 million) and is expected to start operations in Q2 2024, generating RMB 300 million ($42.1 million) in annual revenues. Once fully complete, the facility is expected to generate RMB 2.5 billion ($350.7 million) in annual revenues.
In August, Mellow Energy announced that its large-scale perovskite PV module achieved world record conversion efficiency of 21.50% (see China Solar PV News Snippets ).
Production / Silicon
Tongwei starts construction on 200,000-ton industrial silicon facility: Tongwei Green Substrate (Guangyuan) has announced that it has broken ground on its 200,000 tons/year industrial silicon facility in the Cangxi Economic Development Zone. Phase I of the facility will include the construction of a 12×33000 kVA industrial silicon electric furnace, along with waste heat boilers, dust collectors, desulfurization and denitrification devices, open tower cooling circulating water systems, substations and related supporting public and auxiliary facilities. Earlier this month, Trina Solar announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with TW Solar (Tongwei), outlining plans for further collaboration in the PV industry chain, including modules, polysilicon, cells, and joint ventures (see China Solar PV News Snippets ).
Supply / Cells & Modules / HJT
SPIC New Energy delivers 1st batch of products from 5 GW HJT cell & module fab in Longgang: The Chinese State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) New Energy Science and Technology Co. Ltd. has announced that it has started customer deliveries from its 5 GW high-efficiency heterojunction (HJT) cell & module fab in Longgang City. The company has invested about RMB 6 billion ($839 million) in the facility located in Zhejiang Province, and is claimed to be the world’s 1st mass production facility of copper busbar HJT cells. The fab is said to have achieved a cell output of over 20 MW and 15 MW of modules, generating RMB 21 million ($2.94 million) in revenue. The company expects the facility to generate over RMB 50 million ($7 million) in revenues by the end of the year.
Equipment / Perovskite
Leadmicro Nano’s perovskite-focused ALD mass production equipment passes customer acceptance: Solar cell equipment manufacturer Leadmicro Nano has announced that its special equipment for perovskite crystalline silicon stacked cells has received acceptance from overseas customers. The company says that the equipment will help its customers achieve record efficiency or commercial cells (258.15 cm2).
Energy Storage
Lixin Energy plans fundraising to expand investments in solar power & energy storage: Xinjiang Lixin Energy Co., Ltd. has announced its intention to conduct a private placement to raise funds not exceeding RMB 1.98 billion ($277 million). The proposed issuance involves up to 280 million shares to be offered to specific entities, including the controlling shareholder Xinjiang New Energy (Group) Co., Ltd., and shareholders holding over 5%, such as Xinjiang State-owned Capital Industry Investment Fund Limited Partnership. The funds raised will be earmarked for the 300 MW PV and energy storage integrated facility in Qitai County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as for supplementary working capital. The facility encompasses 200 MW wind power, 100 MW PV project, and a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage project.
Offshore Encapsulation Film
Sveck launches Albatross special packaging film for offshore PV: Encapsulation material manufacturer Sveck has launched its Albatross series of encapsulation products aimed at offshore PV. Calling it the industry’s first offshore encapsulation film, the company says that the film’s reliability in the marine environment has been confirmed and certified by CPVT. The product is said to be able to effectively deal with problems such as salt spray corrosion, high ultraviolet rays, and high humidity and heat. Modules encapsulated with the Albatross film have been successfully connected to the grid in China’s first deep-sea FPV demonstration base, and have maintained efficient and smooth operation. The film is compatible with various types of modules such as PERC, TOPCon, HJT and BC, and is based on the chloride ion intercalation technology. The company claims it effectively prevents chemical corrosion and chloride ion penetration, further improving the water vapor and salt spray resistance of PV modules.
Phototransfer Films
Cybrid Technologies experiencing rising demand for phototransfer films from HJT producers: Even though heterojunction (HJT) solar cell technology is known to generate higher module efficiencies, its high cost vis-à-vis TOPCon gives the latter an edge when it comes to replacing PERC. Nonetheless, work is ongoing to reduce HJT costs with reduced use of silver, finger width and wafer thickness. Now, HJT cell manufacturers count the use of phototransfer film as contributing to improving its power generation capacity and lower costs.
HJT cells typically cannot make use of the ultraviolet (UV)-portion of the light, which is mainly due to the losses incurred by the absorption of this portion of light by TCO and doped silicon thin film layers. The mean UV band of the incident light does not actively contribute to charge carriers’ generation. The phototransfer film overcomes this issue.
As the name suggests, phototransfer film, commercialized by Cybrid Technologies Inc. in 2022, converts UV rays into visible light and actively contributes to photovoltaic generation in HJT cells, thereby enhancing power output by 1.5% to 2% or 10 to 12 W per module. An indirect benefit of technology is that it simply avoids UV portion of the light reaching the PV device, thereby reducing the UV-induced degradation of HJT modules, a root cause for accelerated aging mechanism of HJT. To put it simply, the phototransfer film, in addition to improving the performance of the HJT modules, also helps in expanding the life of a HJT module by reducing its degradation. The film technology is adapted on to the encapsulation materials and the beauty of the approach is that it can be applied on to any encapsulation material platform. Click here to read the entire story.
Silica Gel Factory
Huitian New Material plans to expand PV organic silica gel facility: Solar backsheet maker Huitian New Material has announced that it plans to expand its organic silica gel manufacturing facility. The company plans to invest about RMB 36 million ($5 million) in self-raised funds to build a new fully automatic screw production line while increasing the production capacity of silicone sealants by about 44,000 tons per year. The project is expected to be completed and put into production by the end of June 2024.
PV Module Recycling Plant
Nantong Riyixin to set up 1 GW PV module recycling plant: A company focused on recycling, Nantong Riyixin Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., has announced that it has signed an agreement to set up a 1 GW PV module recycling plant. The plant will be built at a cost of RMB 200 million ($27.9 million) in the Dongying Economic and Technological Development Zone. The Dongying Economic and Technological Development Zone and Dongying Energy Group Co., Ltd., are the other 2 parties that part of the strategic cooperation agreement. The plant adopts the “physical + wet” process of PV module intelligent regeneration technology for the recycling of the modules. Once at full capacity, it is expected to recycle 4 million PV modules annually.
Testing & Certifications
Astronergy’s TOPCon PV modules pass 3-month deep-sea floating PV testing: Solar module manufacturer Astronergy Solar has announced that its ASTRO N n-type TOPCon PV modules have demonstrated safe and stable operation for 3 months at China’s first deep-sea floating PV empirical base. The company says that the modules exhibited strong performance in power generation, conversion efficiency, salt spray resistance, and water resistance, earning them certification for reliability in the floating solar scenario. The product’s performance in extreme marine environments has been certified by China’s National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT). This certification provides technical support for the improvement and sustainable development of floating solar products. Astronergy’s ASTRO N n-type TOPCon modules have previously been certified with a floating PV PIT certificate by UL Solutions.
Astronergy Solar recently introduced the ASTRO N7s n-type TOPCon PV module products, targeting distributed generation (DG) and residential markets globally (see China Solar PV News Snippets ).
Trina Solar manufacturing plant tagged ‘national green factory’ by MIIT: Solar module manufacturer Trina Solar has announced that its photovoltaics (PV) production plant in Suqian, Jiangsu Province has been placed on the list of national green factories by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The company scored 99.4 on the primary indicators in the green factory assessment. Trina Solar was named in the Forbes China ESG Innovative Companies list this year, and the company said that it has been tagged a decarbonization leader in the European Union. The company also said that its manufacturing plant in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, has been named a Zero Carbon Factory by TiGroup, the first to be given such a title in the PV industry.
TAIYANGNEWS CONFERENCE
TAIYANGNEWS ANNUAL FLAGSHIP EVENT: Virtual Conference on High Efficiency Solar Technologies Part-1
As the solar world is turning with high speed and significant technology changes taking place constantly, TaiyangNews will be hosting its annual flagship event on High Efficiency Solar Technologies in December, providing a technology round-up on the latest developments in the fields of solar cells, modules, processing materials and production equipment.
The #firstpart of the online event will take place on #December13/14 with a focus on TOPCon & HJT.
While TOPCon has been accepted as the new state of the art with large capacities already online and much more to come around the world, PERC is a thing of the past. At the same time, several leading companies are also developing HJT, either focusing on HJT exclusively or next to TOPCon as they want to differentiate and believe in the higher efficiencies of HJT.
Sponsored by LONGi Solar , AIKO Energy , Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. , 天合光能 , Astronergy Solar , JA Solar , HUASUN HJT , 东方日升 , Tongwei Solar , ATW Technology , DK Electronic Materials , DA Solar, Hangzhou First, Jolywood Solar Solamet , Cybrid Technologies Inc. , Leadmicro, Maxwell, Runergy Solar , SolarSpace , this 2-day event will see leading PV manufacturers, material suppliers and equipment makers present the latest updates on each of these technologies.
#PartII of the High Efficiency Solar Technologies will be held on #December19/20, where we will do a deep dive into Back Contact (XBC) Cell Architecture and Next Generation Technologies, along with more news on TOPCon.
For #FreeRegistration, click here: https://taiyangnews.info/dec-1314-19-and-20-2023-high-efficiency-solar-technologies/
We look forward to seeing you at the conference. Also, watch out for #Part-II of the Conference.
#HighEfficiencyPV, #HighEfficiencyPVModules, #HighEfficiencySolarTechnologies, #SolarPV