China PV News Snippets

Trina Solar starts construction of Xining project & ships 210R Vertex modules overseas; JA Solar breaks ground for Qujing project; Akcome to buy HJT lines from Maxwell; Autowell wins JinkoSolar bid; JinkoSolar hits 8 GW India shipments; Valin's rooftop support system.

Ground breaking for Trina's Xining manufacturing project: Trina Solar has broken ground for its Xining New Energy Industrial Park in Xining, Qinghai, where the focus will be on n-type technology based on 210 wafers. Currently, Trina is building phase I of the project, to be followed by a second phase. When the entire project is complete, it will bring the cell/module maker significant upstream capacities with 300,000 tons industrial silicon production, 150,000 tons high-purity polysilicon, 35 GW ingots, 10 GW wafers, 10 GW cells, 10 GW modules and 15 GW of auxiliaries for modules (see Trina Announces Massive Solar PV Production Plans).

Meanwhile, Trina Solar has also shipped its 1^st batch of its new 210R Vertex solar modules overseas. The Vertex Supreme 'Little King Kong' series of modules comprising 210R silicon wafer cells are now in mass production at the company's Yiwu facility. These modules have a maximum power output of 430W and efficiencies of up to 21.8%.

JA Solar's Qujing manufacturing projects enter construction: JA Solar has started construction of its 10 GW high efficiency solar cells and 5 GW module facilities in China's Qujing. The project is estimated to cost RMB 6.2 billion. The company, which said this is the first cell/module production facility in Qujing, had announced plans for this project in May 2022 (see China PV News Snippets).

Akcome to buy HJT cell lines from Maxwell: In a stock exchange announcement, Akcome Technology said it will buy 2 x 210 half-cell heterojunction (HJT) cell production lines from Maxwell Technologies. The production capacity of each of the lines exceeds 600 MW and will roll out large size half-HJT cells. Maxwell is contracted to deliver the 1^st production line before December 20, 2022 and the 2^nd by January 20, 2023. Akcome said its investment in HJT is aligned with the business prospects it sees as a first mover in the field.

Autowell wins JinkoSolar bid: Autowell Technology has announced it has won the scribing and welding integrated machine auction of JinkoSolar. The winning bid amounted to RMB 140 million, but it is yet to sign a formal contract with JinkoSolar.

JinkoSolar hits 8 GW India shipment milestone: JinkoSolar has reached 8 GW in cumulative shipments to India. The PV company claims it is the 1^st and the only global player to ship this much capacity to the country. According to JinkoSolar's GM South & Central Asia Daniel Liu, the Chinese company shipped over 3.5 GW solar panels to India in Q4/2021 and in Q1/2022. It has secured Indian government's Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for all its Tiger Neo products.

Valin Energy launches rooftop PV support system: Valin New Energy has launched what it calls China's 1^st dedicated photovoltaic support system for sticky flexible roofs, catering to installation of PV modules and TOP/PVC membrane roofs. Its technology does away with the need to perforate the roof to fix it, according to the company as reported by local media, since the membrane rail integrated bracket design is pasted on the original roof TPO/PVC membrane. This process does not damage the original roof membrane. The bracket track is detachable. It can be easily removed and reused after replacing the new film. Valin says this process can be used for all types and specifications of solar PV modules.

Both Trina Solar and JinkoSolar participated in TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Bifacial & Solar Trackers on July 5-6, 2022.