Manufacturing

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.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs is approaching Chinese authorities, demanding CSUN Trading and CEEG Solar Science to meet the contractual obligations to the Indian companies and also to honour the arbitration award. Further, it has cautioned Indian stakeholders against procuring PV modules from these high-risk companies that have over 160 court cases against them—mostly for breach of contract.

Recent years have seen plenty of innovation when it comes to cell interconnection, and the tricks that manufacturers employ to boost output at this stage go well beyond simply adding more busbars, as in many new module concepts, these are forgone entirely. Synergies between cell interconnection and new innovations at other stages will also be key in shaping the modules of the future.

The Indian government is considering the step following complaints about China Sunergy defaulting on PV module supplies to solar project developers Acme Solar, RattanIndia and Refex Energy. Notably, last year a German EPC company Goldbeck Solar had a similar experience with the Chinese supplier.

The Chinese manufacturer’s PV module shipments increased 16% to touch 11.4 GW in 2018, making it the top global supplier with market share of 12.8%.