Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Narendra Modi’s BJP party is seeking re-election with the aim of ensuring the electrification of all railways by 2022 and turning renewable energy into a popular movement with steps including an emphasis on solar farming. Even if the elections spring a surprise, however, the renewable momentum is unlikely to slow as no government can afford to roll back the clean power tide.

With Narendra Modi being tipped to triumph again in the current Indian elections, Indian solar capacity is expected to grow robustly, at 15.3% per year, on the back of continued strong government support.

The nation is trailing behind peers such as the EU when it comes to policy guidelines for materials and recycling and the lack of a viable business case for reusing materials doesn’t help matters.

In the latest tariff spat to afflict the solar world, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies will investigate a claim steel products coated with aluminum and zinc are being dumped by Far Eastern manufacturers.

The result was certified by the solar cells laboratory at the calibration and test center of Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research. Imec’s measurements showed cell bifaciality surpassed 80%.

While Bureau of India Standards (BIS) certification is an honest attempt by the Indian government to mitigate risks associated with poor quality of modules, there are several reasons why this particular objective is currently not being met. pv magazine India’s Uma Gupta investigates India’s efforts to ensure quality in its booming PV industry.

Sharp has released three new high-efficiency mono-PERC solar panels. Ranging from 300 W to 370 W, the five-busbar modules are designed for use in a range of applications, from residential PV projects to large commercial installations.

Power provider Stadtwerke Waldkirch has built a 264 kW PV system in Germany with Sunman’s glass-free modules, as a titanium rooftop at the project site made it impossible to use conventional modules.

Not many people know it, but DuPont’s India connection goes back to 1802, when the company started importing raw materials from the country for its first product: black powder for explosives for its plant in the United States. In 1974, it opened its first liaison office in India, while its first wholly owned subsidiary in the country was set up 20 years later. Today, DuPont India has a significant local footprint across a range of market segments in India, including solar PV.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGTR) has concluded that the imposition of a duty, in the range of $537-1,559/metric ton, is required to offset the injury caused by imports of solar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The harshest penalty—$1,559/metric ton (MT)—has been imposed on sheets supplied from any Saudi manufacturer other than Saudi Specialized Products.