Amidst a need to scale up solar this decade, PV Tech Premium speaks to Vassilis Papaeconomou, managing director at renewables service provider Alectris, to learn how the solar industry can scale up efficiently, what asset owners and operators need to be aware of when buzzwords such as ‘digitalisation’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ are mentioned, and what the industry might learn from more mature technologies such as wind.
Tesla reported retrofit solar installations of 85MW in Q2 2021, cementing its recovery from a worst-ever performance in the corresponding period last year.
REC Silicon said it is continuing to work towards a restart of operations at its Moses Lake polysilicon production facility in the US, with the company buoyed by recent policy initiatives unveiled by US President Joe Biden.
It is “unhealthy” for China to dominate solar manufacturing and production bases outside of the country are necessary to reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions, an Indian government official has said.
Reporting its Q1 2021 results last week, JinkoSolar provided a snapshot of the pressures solar module manufacturers have faced in the opening exchanges of the year by way of spiralling material and freight costs. Liam Stoker analyses how the company has responded, laying the groundwork for a return to normality towards the end of the year.
Jolywood is expecting to face stiff competition from other module manufacturers in the n-type solar field, predicting a major manufacturing ramp and investment over the next two years.
Finlay Colville, head of market research at PV Tech Research, explores how solar PV has become dependent on low-cost manufacturing, facilitating a dominance by China-based players, and how the industry could engage with current scrutiny of solar’s supply chain.
Amidst surging materials costs, the solar industry needs to avoid any “gaming” on price between upstream and downstream sectors as it could be “very dangerous for both sides”. Leo Xiang, general manager at Jiang Tai Insurance Brokers’ energy department, speaks to PV Tech about the potential remedies to the situation.
Meyer Burger will no longer sell the heterojunction cells it produces to third parties in a major shift in strategy, accelerating its capacity expansion plans in the process.
