China PV News Snippets

Tongwei IBC cell pilot line set up; Cybrid operating income up over 81% DMEGC sets up TOPCon & P-IBC cell pilot lines; Aiko to increase subsidiary capital; Gaoce net profit at RMB 237 mn; JA Solar part of SMI China Council; Qinghai Lihao project produces first batch of polysilicon.

Tongwei establishes IBC cell pilot line: Integrated solar PV manufacturer from China, Tongwei Group said that currently, in addition to the 1 GW HJT and 1 GW TOPCon pilot lines, the company has also established an IBC cell pilot line. The first IBC cell was officially rolled off the production line in July this year, and the production line is in the process of optimization at present. Meanwhile, the perovskite laboratory has completed construction, and the first perovskite cell is expected to be produced during 2022. Tongwei Group is also optimistic about the development potential of HJT cell technology in the long run, and continues to focus on cost reduction and efficiency improvement of HJT cells. For the time being, the highest HJT cell R&D efficiency has reached 25.67%, which is leading in the industry. These statements were given by Tongwei during the presentation of the financial results for H1/2022 (see Tongwei Sold 22 GW Cells In H1/2022).

Cybrid Technologies registers strong growth: Developer, producer and seller of functional polymer materials, Cybrid Technologies, released its 2022 semi-annual report. Here are the details:

• One of the world's leading PV backsheet manufacturers, Cybrid achieved an operating income of RMB 2.2 billion ($0.3 billion), a year-on-year increase of 81.5%. This was because of the increase in the sale of products such as solar encapsulation film and transportation power (including new energy power lithium battery) materials.
• Nearly 80 million m2 of packaging film products were shipped, and this achieved a sales revenue of RMB 1.06 billion ($0.15 billion) and went on to become the company's largest revenue contributor. The sales revenue was about 1.7 times more than what the company did during the same period last year.
• The net profit was at RMB 175 million ($25.4 million), a year-on-year increase of 113.87%.
• The basic earnings per share was at RMB 0.4 ($0.058), which is again a rise from last year's RMB 0.2 ($0.029) per share.

DMEGC TOPCon and P-IBC cell pilot lines set up: Vertically integrated solar module manufacturer from China Hengdian Group, DMEGC Magnetics announced that its Hengdian DMC M6 and M10 high-efficiency P-type PERC top cell conversion efficiency has been improved to 24.01% using mainstream production equipment, materials and processes. The efficiency was confirmed by the China Institute of Metrology. Meanwhile, the company has set up n-type TOPCon and p-type IBC pilot lines, laying the foundation for the next-gen new technology to be applied in mass production. DMEGC plans to expand its TOPCon production capacity next year to about 5 GW.

Aiko Solar  to add RMB 1 bn to subsidiary's capital: Chinese solar cell producer Aiko Solar announced that it plans to increase the registered capital of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhuhai Fushan Aiko by RMB 1 billion ($0.15 billion) with its own or self-raised funds. With this, the registered capital of Zhuhai Fushan Aiko will rise to RMB 2 billion ($0.29 billion). The funds will be raised by the company itself, and it will continue to hold 100% equity of the subsidiary. This move is intended to support the construction of Zhuhai Fushan Aiko's 6.5 GW high-efficiency solar cell production project, and also contribute to the company's development plans in the future.

Gaoce Technology H1/2022 results released: Wire cutting machine producer Qingdao Gaoce Technology released its 2022 semi-annual report, and here is how the company fared:

• The company achieved an operating income of RMB 1.3 billion ($0.19 billion), a year-on-year increase of 124%
• The net profit was at RMB 237 million ($34.5 million), a year-on-year increase of 224%
• The basic earnings per share was at RMB 1.04 ($0.15) per share, more than tripple than last year's RMB 0.32 ($0.047) per share

The company attributed this growth to the significant rise in equipment orders; rise in production and shipment of diamond wires; rise in sales of cutting equipment and cutting consumables; rise in volume of silicon wafer and dicing processing service projects.

JA Solar joins SMI China Council: Solar PV panel manufacturer JA Solar, in a WeChat communication, said that it has joined the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) China Council as a founding member. The SMI China Council inaugural meeting was held in Jiangxi. The aim of this Council is to boost the participation of the Chinese business community in sustainable market initiatives and to promote economic development and environment protection. The SIM was proposed by British crown heir Prince Charles at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020 with a view to unite global forces to jointly address climate change, protect biodiversity and achieve sustainable development. Some of the other founding members of the SMI China Council include Bank of China, PetroChina, Geely Holding.

Qinghai Lihao project in Phase 1 produces silicon material: High-purity crystalline silicon and semiconductor materials company Qinghai Lihao through WeChat said that the first batch of silicon material has been successfully produced from Qinghai Lihao's 50,000 ton high-purity crystalline silicon project (Phase I). Spread across 2,600 mu, the project is being constructed in 3 phases with a total annual output of 200,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon. With an investment of RMB 18 billion ($2.62 billion), the project had its commissioning ceremony towards the end of July 2022 (see China PV News Snippets)