US-based PVD thin film materials supplier SCI Engineered Materials has secured its largest ever order valued at around US$2 million from a CIGS (Copper, Indium, Gallium, Selenide) thin-film module manufacturer in China.
Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has signed an agreement with a key CIGS thin-film module customer, Avancis, which is part of China National Building Materials (CNBM) to develop the next generation of manufacturing equipment.
Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has recently reported that its order backlog stood at €125.5 million at the end of the first quarter, while guiding stronger than expected revenue for 2018.
PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has reported first quarter 2018 revenue that was 80.8% higher than the prior year period, and a new first quarter revenue record for the company.
Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has booked over €40 million (US$48.5 million) in new CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide) thin-film manufacturing equipment orders in 2018.
The revival of European thin-film manufacturing equipment suppliers in 2017 proved to be remarkable and more importantly is expected to continue through 2018 as the solar industry works through a wave of new orders, primarily from China, Malaysia and Vietnam.
China headquartered PV thin-film equipment and module producer Hanergy Thin Film Power Group (Hanergy TF) has created a completely new business model in 2017 that provides new industrial parks a selection from a portfolio of a-Si, CIGS, GaAs and c-Si heterojunction (HJ) turnkey production lines to provide local governments access to solar technology and attract other hi-tech companies to new industrial parks.
As previously reported there was a significant slowdown in global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the third quarter of 2017, which we highlighted was hardly surprising due to significant level of expansions plans announced in the first half of the year. However, despite increased concerns over the potential imposition of restrictive trade practices in the US and India in the fourth quarter of 2017, there was a significant rebound over the previous quarter, leading to the highest recorded gigawatts of new expansion announcements.
