The global PV manufacturing landscape is increasingly splitting into distinct regional technology roadmaps. While Chinese manufacturers are moving beyond first-generation TOPCon toward advanced TOPCon architectures, back-contact (BC) and hybrid BC technologies, the industry is also preparing for the longer-term shift to perovskite-based tandems. Outside China, India’s rapidly expanding manufacturing base remains largely focused on first-generation TOPCon, while Europe and North America are pursuing a broader mix of technologies, including HJT and next-generation tandems.
This divergence is driving equipment suppliers to develop more flexible, scalable production platforms that can support multiple cell architectures, while innovations in multi-cut cells, 0BB interconnection, metallization pastes, and encapsulation materials continue to improve module performance, cost, and reliability.
These developments will be at the center of discussions at the upcoming TaiyangNews Cell & Module Production Equipment & Processing Materials Conference, bringing together PV manufacturers, equipment suppliers and materials companies from across the value chain.
At the virtual conference, Darren Chen, Product Director at DKEM, will discuss the company’s mass-production roadmap for silver-lean to silver-free metallization.
The virtual conference is scheduled from 09:30 to 13:00 CEST on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Register for free here.
Thin-film solar product manufacturer Yanhe Solar has finalized the engineering prototype of its proprietary ‘Nebula’ flexible roll-up space solar wings. Built on a 0.1 mm fully flexible polyimide (PI) substrate with an integrated roll-up design, the prototype can be stowed to the diameter of a thermos flask during launch and deployed via a passive mechanism once in orbit. The design reduces weight by 25% to 30% compared with conventional solutions and achieves a 35-fold stowage ratio.
The perovskite cells used in the prototype are expected to last 6 months. The company has also launched its ‘2030 Space Power Station Plan’, under which it plans to advance key technology development and large-scale networking of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) computing power stations in phases from 2026 to 2030, before moving into full-scale engineering construction from 2030, including lunar power stations.
Earlier this year, Yanhe Solar’s tandem perovskite modules passed simulated extreme space environment tests conducted by satellite enterprises, including China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) has announced plans to invest RMB 4.1 billion in Zhonhen Technology Investment for a 49% stake. The latter is the controlling shareholder and parent company of power system solutions provider Zhonhen Electric. Alongside the equity investment, Zhonhen Technology Investment, Zhonhen Electric, CATL, and its subsidiary Terapower have signed a strategic cooperation agreement covering computing infrastructure, new energy including EV charging and battery swapping, and new-type power systems and power trading.
Zhonhen Electric’s business spans data center DC power supply, solar-storage-charging-swapping networks, microgrids and virtual power plants. The company has previously supplied charging and battery-swapping equipment to a CATL subsidiary.
In late July, CATL signed an expanded strategic cooperation agreement with CECEP, broadening their collaboration across perovskite PV, energy storage, carbon-neutral projects, and overseas green mining (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Architectural waterproofing and green building materials manufacturer Oriental Yuhong (OYH) has commissioned its silica sand production base in Maoming, Guangdong Province. Backed by an investment of RMB 60 million, the facility is designed to process recycled port dredged material into high-grade silica sand products, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of float glass sand, 200,000 tons of PV glass sand, and 100,000 tons of filter media sand. The facility is expected to generate an annual output value of RMB 135 million at full capacity.
The project uses an alternative raw material model that does not rely on conventional mining. It can process 700,000 tons of port dredged material and nearby silica sand resources annually through sorting, purification, and iron removal, converting material previously treated as channel-dredging waste into float glass sand and low-iron PV glass sand that meet national standards.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), solar cell output from China’s industrial enterprises above designated size – those with annual main business revenue of at least RMB 20 million – reached 65.79 GW in July, down 9.4% year-on-year. For the first 7 months of the year, cumulative solar cell output totaled 446.08 GW, down 13.6% from the same period in 2025.
Despite the manufacturing slowdown, solar power generation by industrial enterprises above designated size reached 70.3 billion kWh in July, up 5.6% year-on-year, while wind power generation rose 4.5% to 82.0 billion kWh.
Last month, NBS reported a 14.2% year-on-year decline in China’s solar cell output (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
PV metallization paste supplier DKEM plans to raise up to RMB 2.76 billion through a private placement to no more than 35 investors, with RMB 362 million earmarked for two PV paste-related projects.
The first, a 2,000-ton/year base-metal and low-silver PV paste facility, involves a total investment of RMB 232.8 million, including RMB 188 million from the proposed fundraising. It will establish an annual capacity of 1,500 tons of TOPCon silver-copper paste and 500 tons of mixed-nickel base-metal paste.
The second facility, involving a new PV paste R&D platform, has a total investment of RMB 183 million, including RMB 174 million from the fundraising. Its R&D areas include pure copper paste, pastes for perovskite/crystalline silicon tandem cells, conductive silver paste for TBC cells, and high-reliability space PV paste.
TaiyangNews 2024

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