[SMM PV Flash] Japan Tightens Grid Access Rules as Battery Queue Reaches 172GW

Independent power producer (IPP) ContourGlobal, in partnership with a local public power utility, has completed the construction of the 324MW Black Hollow Sun solar PV complex in Colorado, US, four months ahead of schedule. The full commissioning of this project will supply substantial clean energy to the local grid. With this completion, ContourGlobal's total operating and under-construction renewable energy portfolio in the US has reached 1.5GW. The smooth progress of such utility-scale projects indicates that the US utility-scale solar market maintains a steady installation momentum.

According to recent research, with the large-scale aging of early solar power plants, Germany is on course to generate over 600,000 tonnes of end-of-life solar PV modules by 2030. By the end of 2023, installed modules contain significant recyclable materials holding billions of euros in recovery potential for metals like aluminum and silver. Advancing large-scale module recycling not only meets environmental mandates and absorption pressures but also supplements the upstream auxiliary supply chain with extracted high-value metals, paving the way for accelerated growth in Europe's local PV recycling industry.

On October 1, US solar manufacturer First Solar filed a patent infringement lawsuit in a Delaware federal court against Chinese module manufacturer JA Solar and American Panel Solutions, a subsidiary of Corning. First Solar alleges that these companies engaged in the unauthorized use of its core patents related to the manufacturing of TOPCon crystalline silicon solar cells. As competition within the global PV supply chain intensifies, technical patent scrutiny targeting leading Chinese module makers expanding overseas is becoming stricter, which may bring uncertainties to their capacity expansion and sales in the North American market.