SPIC Huanghe launches China’s 1st PV module recycling plant; construction on Golden Solar’s HBC cell production line complete; Daming Solar breaks ground on new module manufacturing plant; Jiangsu Kaisheng starts construction on PV packaging material facility.
SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development builds China’s 1st module recycling pilot line: SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. has launched China’s 1st module recycling pilot line, to address the large-scale decommissioning of end-of-life crystalline silicon PV modules. The facility can process 30 MW of modules annually, with a recycling rate of 92.23%. The company has won awards such as the “Major Scientific and Technological Progress in the Photovoltaic Field” from the China Renewable Energy Society in 2022 and the “Photovoltaic Recycling and Recycling” Pilot Demonstration Award from the Photovoltaic Recycling Industry Development Cooperation Center in 2022. The company says that it ‘has realized original intellectual property rights in module recycling process technology and equipment manufacturing, and has made technical reserves to reduce the impact of the solar photovoltaic industry on the ecological environment.’ In July 2023, researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) claimed their patented sieving process can extract 99% of PV cell particles, especially silver to be used again under 15 minutes (see New Solar Module Recycling Process From Australia).
Golden Solar completes construction on new generation HBC cell production line: Golden Solar has announced the completion of its new generation heterojunction back contact (HBC) cell production line. Calling it the world’s first production line for mass production of HBC cells, the company says that its mass-produced cells can hit a conversion efficiency of above 27%. The group had also announced the completion of the world’s first HBC flexible module mass production line in the middle of this year. This means that the vertically integrated high-efficiency and low-cost photovoltaic industry strategy linking monocrystalline ingot silicon wafers, HBC cells and flexible modules has been realized. The group says that it is in the process of establishing major sales channels in Europe and the United States and an online private-label sales system to meet the growing needs of the consumer product market. The company is expected to expand production to 5 GW after it hits mass production at the facility.
Daming Solar breaks ground on new module manufacturing plant: Solar PV R&D company Daming Solar announced that it has started construction on its new energy intelligent manufacturing base in Jinzhai Economic Development Zone. The facility will cover an area of 300 acres and will be constructed in 2 phases, involving a total investment of RMB 7.92 billion ($1.09 billion). Phase I of the plant covers an area of 135 acres, with an investment of RMB 2.69 billion ($369 million), and will consist of 10 production lines for 10 GW high-efficiency large-size PV modules. In June, Daming Solar had announced a deal with Sheyang Economic Development Zone for a 10 GW high-efficiency large-size photovoltaic module facility (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Jiangsu Kaisheng starts construction on PV packaging material facility: Jiangsu Kaisheng New Materials announced that it has started construction on the 1st phase of its ultra-thin PV module packaging material facility with an annual output of 1.5 million tons. Being built with an investment of RMB 11 billion ($1.5 billion), the facility covers an area of 938 acres. The facility will mainly produce solar ultra-thin photovoltaic original glass, coated tempered glass and other special glasses, and will consist of 4 1200 t/d solar embossed glass kilns, equipped with 20 continuous tempering furnaces and 60 film glass production lines. With an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons of ultra-white and ultra-thin PV glass, the facility is expected to generate RMB 10 billion ($1.37 billion) in revenue annually.
