China Solar PV News Snippets

LONGi develops 57μm HJT solar cells; Trina Solar's 2023 revenue exceeds RMB 100B; Sungrow, Ginlong win Datang inverter bid; Tongwei Solar, Midea Group sign strategic pact; Autowell gets RMB 270M order from LONGi; China Three Gorges issues PV tender.

LONGi develops 57 μm HJT solar cells with >26% efficiency: LONGi, in collaboration with Jiangsu University of Science and Technology and Australia Curtin University, has developed what it calls the world's first highly flexible, high-power-to-weight-ratio silicon heterojunction solar cells. The research results, titled 'Flexible silicon solar cells with high power-to-weight ratios,' were published in the international journal Nature. In this study, the 3 teams collaborated to develop new processes such as surface passivation and doping contact growth. The teams created a 57 μm solar cell with a power-to-weight ratio of 1.9 W per gram, a curvature radius of 19 mm, a power-to-weight ratio 2-3 times that of existing products, and an efficiency exceeding 26%. The related data has been certified by the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH) in Germany.

Recently, LONGi signed a contract with UK's Ferroglobe for the supply of high-quality quartz and silicon (see Non-Chinese Silicon Supply For LONGi Under Global Strategy).

Trina Solar's revenue exceeded RMB 100 billion in 2023: Solar module manufacturer Trina Solar has reported its FY 2023 earnings results. For the period, the company reported revenues of RMB 113.51 billion ($15.78 billion), an increase of 33.46% over the previous year. Its net profit was RMB 5.561 billion ($773 million), an increase of 51.12% over the previous year. The company attributed its positive performance to increased sales volumes, the higher proportion of TOPCon module sales, in-house n-type silicon wafer capacity resulting in reduced costs, etc.

Trina Solar, along with China Power, recently completed the equity delivery for a 69.3 MW under-construction floating PV project in Sarawak, Malaysia (see China Solar PV News Snippets).

Sungrow and Ginlong win Datang inverter bid: Datang Group has announced Sungrow Power and Ginlong Technology as the winners of its 2023-2024 PV inverter framework bidding section 3. This bidding section was specifically for distributed string inverters, for an estimated capacity of 1 GW. Sungrow Power is also one of the winners in section 1, which was for string inverters of 196 kW and above. Once signed, the contract will be valid till June 30, 2024, with an option to extend it for an additional 3 months.

Tongwei Solar and Midea Group sign strategic cooperation agreement: Tongwei Solar has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the consumer appliances company Midea Group. The 2 companies aim to strengthen cooperation in the PV industry by focusing on digitization, robotics, logistics automation, logistics transportation, building equipment, and supporting home appliances. They aim to jointly create a model for intelligent manufacturing in the PV industry.

Autowell wins RMB 270 million solar module equipment order from LONGi: Solar automation equipment manufacturer Autowell and its subsidiary have won an order from LONGi for solar module manufacturing equipment. While a contract is yet to be signed, it is believed to be in the amount of RMB 270 million ($37.53 million). Given an average equipment acceptance period of 6 to 9 months, Autowell stated the contract may not positively impact its performance in 2024. However, it does expect a positive impact in 2025.

Last month Autowell announced a purchase contract with Trina Solar for integrated solar module cutting & soldering equipment (see China Solar PV News Snippets).

China Three Gorges issues PV module and inverter tender: State-owned power company China Three Gorges Corporation has called for a tender to procure 9 GW of PV modules and 8 GW of inverters. Under the tender for PV modules, it aims to procure p-type modules rated 545 W and above and n-type modules rated 575 W and above. In the case of inverters, the company looks to procure 8 GW of string inverters. The bidding is set to open at 10:00 a.m. local time on March 14, 2024. The agreements with the winners, once signed, will be valid till September 30, 2024.