Tongwei & LONGi sign polysilicon deal; Hangzhou First’s Q1 2024 net profit up over 43 YoY; DAH Solar starts 10 GW PV base; JinkoSolar & JIDI Solar sign 1 GW module supply deal; GCL Technology reports Q1 2024 results; VDE certification for Microquanta’s 115 W perovskite module.

Tongwei & LONGi sign contract for 862,400 tons of polysilicon: Tongwei Solar has announced the signing of a high-purity silicon sales contract with LONGi. According to the announcement, 6 subsidiaries of Tongwei and 9 subsidiaries of LONGi recently signed a high-purity silicon product sales contract. LONGi will purchase no less than 862,400 tons of high-purity silicon products from Tongwei from 2024 to 2026. The purchase price will be determined through monthly negotiations. The contract will take effect from the date of signing and will be valid until December 31, 2026.

Recently, LONGi announced a world record 27.3% cell efficiency for silicon solar in lab conditions (see LONGi Announces New Lab-Scale Cell Efficiency Record).

Hangzhou First’s Q1 2024 net profit up 43.13% YoY: Solar film and backsheet manufacturer Hangzhou First has released its financial results for FY2023 and Q1 2024. The company reported revenues of RMB 22.59 billion ($3.13 million) for FY2023, which was up 19.66% year-over-year (YoY). For the period, the company’s net profit was up 17.20% YoY to RMB 1.85 billion ($256 million). The company sold 2,248.8544 million sq. m. of solar film, which was up 70.22% YoY. Its solar backsheet shipments increased 22.70% YoY to 151.21 million sq. m.

For Q1 2024, Hangzhou First reported revenues of RMB 5.321 billion ($736.3 million), up 8.32% YoY. Its net profit increased 43.13% YoY to RMB 521.5 million ($72.16 million).

Last month, Hangzhou First announced that it is postponing its plans for 2 of its facilities until the end of 2025 (see China Solar PV News Snippets).

DAH Solar breaks ground on 10 GW vertically integrated PV manufacturing base: Solar module developer and manufacturer DAH Solar has announced that it has broken ground on its 10 GW vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing base. The base, the company’s first in the region, is located in Jinzhong Development Zone, Shanxi Transformation Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone. Spread over an area of 430 acres, the base will be built for a total investment of about RMB 5 billion ($691.23 million). The base will cover all processes of crystal pulling, to manufacturing silicon wafers, cells and modules. Once fully up and running, it is expected to generate RMB 8 billion ($1.105 billion) in annual revenues.

In March this year, DAH Solar introduced its full-screen rectangular double-glass module, with up to 630 W of power and a maximum conversion efficiency of 23.32% (see China Solar PV News Snippets).

JinkoSolar and JIDI Solar sign 1 GW PV module supply deal: JinkoSolar and JIDI Solar have signed a PV module supply agreement totaling 1 GW. The companies aim to further strengthen technical exchanges and market cooperation through this large-scale cooperation. They further seek to jointly promote the efficient execution and high-quality implementation of photovoltaic projects.

Recently, JinkoSolar announced that its solar module shipments for Q1 2024 reached 20 GW (see JinkoSolar Shipped 20 GW Solar Modules During Q1/2024).

GCL Technology releases unaudited Q1 2024 results: Leading polysilicon supplier GCL Technology has released its Q1 2024 unaudited results and a business update for its PV materials business segment. The company reported unaudited profit attributable to owners of RMB 33 million ($4.56 million) for the quarter and revenues of approximately RMB 5.47 billion ($756.2 million). The company attributes the YoY decrease in profits to significantly lower average selling prices for polysilicon, RMB 400 million ($55.3 million) in research and development expenses, a rapid decline in the silicon wafer end market, among other things. The company says that the new production capacity in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, once fully ramped up, should contribute to lower costs for granular silicon and higher profitability.

During the quarter, the company produced 65,494 metric tons (MT) of granular silicon, shipping 65,189 MT (including 3,300 MT of internal sales). The company says that the turbidity of its granular silicon dropped to within 120 NTU during March, which it hopes to reduce further in the future.

Last month, GCL Energy Technology (GCL-ET) announced its plans to construct 1.9 GW of distributed solar PV projects (see China Solar PV News Snippets).

VDE certification for Microquanta’s 115 W perovskite module: Perovskite solar cell and module manufacturer Microquanta announced that its latest α² perovskite module has received the new IEC61215 and IEC61730 certification from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Microquanta claims to be the world’s first thin-film cell company to receive a certification from the German Electrical Engineers Association (VDE), with a certified power rating of up to 115W. After simulating cumulative 20-year comprehensive aging factor challenges, the annual average stability power attenuation ratio of α² modules was found to be less than 2%, even increasing by about 1% in some test sequences.