Canadian Solar’s groundbreaking ceremony in Hohhot; LONGi releases 1^st Half 2023 interim results; Hongyuan rolls out 1^st module from Phase I; INGENE SAGL receives 1 MW of modules from YuanTech; S.C New Energy’s new PECVD based microcrystalline P process.

Canadian Solar breaks ground in Inner Mongolia: Canada-headquartered Chinese solar manufacturer Canadian Solar broke ground for the construction of its new factory in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Planned to be constructed in 3 phases, the facility is part of the company’s capacity expansion and vertical integration plans in China. The factory is expected to start ingot production in March 2024, with crucible, wafer, cell, module and ancillary products to follow suit in H2/2024 (see Canadian Solar: New Silicon to Module Manufacturing Project in China).

LONGi releases H1/2023 Preliminary Financial Results: Chinese vertically integrated solar PV company LONGi Solar has released its interim results for the 1^st half of 2023. The company expects to report total operating income of RMB 64.7 billion ($9 billion) for H1 2023, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 28.26%. Its net profit is expected to be RMB 9.2 billion ($1.3 billion), a YoY increase of 41.63%. The company said that the demand in the global photovoltaic (PV) market has grown rapidly during this period. It also stated that shipments of silicon wafers and modules increased significantly compared to same period last year.

Hongyuan Solar’s 16 GW facility rolls out 1^st module: Chinese cell and module manufacturer Hongyuan Solar announced the rollout of the 1^st module from Phase I of its 16 GW n-type TOPCon high-efficiency facility in the Jiangyin Lingang Development Zone. Constructed in 2 phases, the 1^st phase of the factory started on New Year’s Day this year, and officially broke ground on March 31. Taking just over 3 months to produce its 1^st module, Phase I is expected to bring in RMB 22 billion ($3 billion) in annual sales when fully up and running.

YuanTech Solar delivers high-efficiency modules to INGENE SAGL: A new Chinese PV manufacturer, YuanTech Solar, announced that it has supplied 1MW high-efficiency n-type TOPCon modules to Swiss project developer and distributor INGENE SAGL’s Cadenazzo and Riazzino industrial rooftop projects. The 2 companies have further signed a 2-year module distribution agreement.

S.C New Energy develops new microcrystalline P process: Chinese solar production equipment maker S.C New Energy Technology has announced the successful development of PECVD based p-type microcrystalline process for HJT cell production in its pilot line. The company realized a good deposition rate of above 2 angstroms/second, while achieving a stable above-50% crystallization rate. The average efficiency of 12BB heterojunction cells based on double-sided microcrystals prepared in the pilot line reached 25.1% (German ISFH (Hamelin) standard), and the cell yield rate was stable above 98%. The process uniformity is within 6%, and the stability and repeatability have been fully verified on the pilot line. For the latest on TOPCon cell processing machines check our latest publication on this topic (see Market Survey: Solar Cell Production Equipment 2023).