TrendForce stated that the two major wafer foundries, TSMC and Samsung Electronics, had increased prices for the most-traded advanced 5/4nm processes used for AI chips. At TSMC, capacity at the 5/4nm, 3nm, and 2nm periods will remain fully utilized, and toll processing prices for these processes have been increased across the board; meanwhile, order volumes for Samsung Foundry's 5/4nm processes also increased significantly, prompting it to issue price hike notices to clients in Q4 2025.

On the evening of March 18, 2026, at Chery Automobile Battery Night 2026 in Wuhu, Anhui, Chery unveiled its Rhino all-solid-state battery technology. It had completed the development and pilot production of a 60Ah, 400Wh/kg all-solid-state battery cell and was advancing toward an ultra-high energy density of 600Wh/kg.

Solid-state batteries were a hot topic at the 2026 Two Sessions, where delegates noted that the industry is at a critical inflection point, moving from “samples” to “products.”

Driven by robust demand for AI, the price hikes in the PCB circuit board industry chain continue. According to reports, Japanese semiconductor material giant Resonac has raised the prices of CCL copper clad laminate and adhesive films by 30% starting from March 1. The industry expects that Resonac's price increase will be passed on to high-end manufacturing processes such as MLCC, HDI boards, IC substrates, and high-frequency high-speed PCBs. Moreover, the PCB sector may see a super catalyst – Nvidia's LPU inference chip. The market believes that with the implementation and rapid growth of AI applications, the market for specialized AI inference chips will expand rapidly, bringing about a significant impact on the PCB industry including increased volume and prices, process upgrades, material innovations, and higher concentration. This will enhance the value and importance of PCBs in AI chips, opening up new market size opportunities for the PCB industry.

Recently, Guansheng disclosed that its solid-liquid hybrid battery electrolyte membrane employs a self-developed polymer solid-state electrolyte membrane. Furthermore, the company's technical focus in the solid-state battery field is primarily on polymer-based solid-liquid hybrid batteries, with a key emphasis on industrial and commercial energy storage applications. This approach offers advantages such as lower costs, high safety, and relatively mature manufacturing processes, making it suitable for mass production. Simultaneously, Guansheng also possesses technical reserves for quasi-solid-state ternary lithium batteries, with its core process involving the use of ultraviolet light cross-linking polymerization technology to achieve in-situ curing of the electrolyte membrane.

This week (January 30 to February 5, 2026), the scaling of Tesla’s dry electrode process represented a revolutionary breakthrough in manufacturing, while Light-Year Engine’s “launch-to-production” approach marked a bold declaration on the product front. Both point to the core challenges of industrialisation —engineering and cost.

An international team of photovoltaic researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the University of Freiburg, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have achieved a key step toward the industrialization of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells.

To promote the high-quality development of the motor industry and strengthen collaborative cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises in the motor industry, on April 28, 2025, Xu De'an, Director of the Marketing Department, and Fan Cui, Director of the Motor Business Department, from SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. (SMM), visited Lanzhou Electric Motor Co., Ltd. for an on-site inspection and were warmly received by the company. During the discussion, the SMM team gained an in-depth understanding of Lanzhou Electric Motor's development history. As a key motor manufacturing enterprise originally established by the former Ministry of Machine-Building Industry in north-west China, Lanzhou Electric Motor was founded in October 1958 and boasts a profound industry heritage. The two sides engaged in in-depth discussions on technological trends, market prospects, and potential cooperation directions within the motor industry, reaching a consensus on future collaborative development. After the meeting, the SMM team toured Lanzhou Electric Motor's intelligent production workshop, giving high praise to its manufacturing processes and quality management system. This visit not only strengthened mutual trust and understanding between the two sides but also laid a solid foundation for future cooperation. Through technology sharing, resource integration, and market linkage, SMM and Lanzhou Electric Motor will jointly enhance the competitiveness of the industry chain and drive industry innovation and upgrading. Both sides agreed to take this exchange as an opportunity to jointly explore more cooperation possibilities, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and inject new momentum into the high-quality development of the motor industry. Lanzhou Electric Motor Co., Ltd. is a key motor manufacturing enterprise originally established by the former Ministry of Machine-Building Industry in north-west China in 1958. In 2018, the company relocated to the Lanzhou New Area, a national-level new area, achieving a transformation and upgrading from traditional manufacturing to green, intelligent, and digital manufacturing. The company boasts over 1,600 sets of processing, detection, and testing equipment, with a CNC rate exceeding 86%. It has been recognized as a national-level green factory, provincial-level intelligent factory, and digital workshop. The company is a national-level high-tech enterprise, possessing innovative platforms such as a national-level engineering technology center. Its products have won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award and the Silver Award for National Quality Products. The company has undertaken multiple national and provincial-level scientific and technological research tasks, including the national "863" Program, the National Science and Technology Support Program, and provincial-level major science and technology projects. It has been awarded the title of "National First-Class Metrology Unit," the "A" Class Qualification Certification for Type Approval of Marine Generators, and possesses the "Energy Efficiency Testing Laboratory" recognized by the China Energy Labeling Center. Vision In the future, the company will continue to uphold its mission of providing "green, lightweight, intelligent, efficient, professional, and integrated" motor products to domestic and overseas users, striving to make greater achievements in the fields of energy efficiency, environmental protection, NEVs, advanced equipment manufacturing, weaponry, and service remanufacturing. Exhibition Name: IEMC 2025 Motor Annual Conference & Industry Chain Expo Exhibition Date: November 12-14, 2025 Exhibition Venue: Ningbo, Zhejiang Scan the QR code to reserve your spot at the exhibition and stay updated with the latest industry trends!

As the PV industry enters the large-scale base construction phase, safety and system reliability are becoming the core elements for the long-term operation of PV power plants. This is particularly true in regions prone to extreme weather conditions, such as deserts, gobi, mountainous, coastal, and marine areas, where the strength, stability, and weather resistance of materials are of utmost importance. With the ongoing trend towards larger and thinner PV modules, there is an urgent need to enhance the mechanical strength of PV systems. The industry is in dire need of load standards with higher safety ratings. The PV frame is a crucial component of the module, serving as the framework material primarily used for fixing and sealing PV modules. It significantly impacts the module's lifespan and requires high weather resistance. Based on the material, PV frames can be classified into aluminum alloy frames, steel frames, and composite material frames. Among them, aluminum alloy frames are widely used, with a current penetration rate exceeding 93%. Additionally, PV frames are considered high-value auxiliary materials for modules. In the cost structure of PV modules, the cost of solar cells accounts for approximately 55%. Based on the current common dimensions and weight of aluminum frames, PV frames account for about 13% of the cost, which is higher than other auxiliary materials such as EVA, glass, backsheets, and welding strips, making them the auxiliary material with the highest cost proportion. Due to cost pressures, aluminum frames continue to reduce weight, lower height, and thin wall thickness, while the module area continues to expand, posing challenges to safety. The industry urgently needs to establish load standards with higher safety ratings to ensure the stable operation and full life cycle reliability of power plants under extreme conditions. In the early days of China's PV industry development, aluminum alloy became the primary material for module frames due to its lightweight, strong corrosion resistance, and ease of forming. However, in recent years, as the application scenarios of PV modules have become increasingly diverse, modules are exposed to more extreme environments, necessitating the optimization and transformation of module frame technologies and materials. This has led to the emergence of various alternative frame solutions, such as frameless double-glass modules, steel structure frames, rubber frames, and composite material frames. At this influential exhibition in the global PV industry, Zhongjian Materials made a stunning debut with its "double-beam alloy steel frame." Leveraging its leading advantages in high strength, high safety, high adaptability, high corrosion resistance, and ultra-low carbon emissions, Zhongjian Materials' booth attracted numerous domestic and international customers, experts, and scholars, becoming one of the most-watched booths at the exhibition. Challenges of Extreme Weather on PV Modules As the PV industry enters the large-scale base construction phase, safety and system reliability are becoming the core elements for the long-term operation of PV power plants. This is particularly true in regions prone to extreme weather conditions, such as deserts, gobi, mountainous, coastal, and marine areas, where the strength, stability, and weather resistance of materials are of utmost importance. Due to cost pressure, aluminum frames continue to reduce weight, lower height, and thin wall thickness, while the module area keeps expanding, posing challenges to safety. The industry urgently needs to establish higher safety-level load standards to ensure the stable operation of power plants under extreme conditions and the reliability throughout their life cycle. Born for the safety of PV power plants The double-beam alloy steel frame features a unique design. The A-side dragon head protrusion is thinned to 1.0mm, effectively preventing dust accumulation. The B-side load-bearing beam offers superior load-bearing and buffering capabilities, while the C-side reinforcing beam optimizes the bifaciality and enhances tear resistance. The frame is made of high-strength zinc-aluminum-magnesium alloy steel with a material strength of up to 800MPa, more than three times that of traditional aluminum alloy. It has passed a 60m/s wind tunnel test and successfully withstood the impact of a Category 17 "Yagi" typhoon in Wenchang, Hainan, in September 2024. The front-side ultimate load can reach 10,000Pa, demonstrating excellent structural stability under extreme snow load conditions. The double-beam alloy steel frame solution not only achieves breakthroughs in structure and materials but also showcases its ability to withstand extreme climates through data and empirical evidence. As of June 1, 2025, the double-beam alloy steel frame has been applied in 19 provinces across the country, with total shipments reaching the GW level, covering both residential and centralized power plants. It has withstood multiple extreme weather events, including typhoons, hailstorms, and heavy snowfall, with zero damage to the modules, demonstrating outstanding reliability and weather resistance. In terms of carbon emissions, the double-beam alloy steel frame reduces carbon emissions from 76.4kg to 29.2kg per module (182 solar cell, 78-panel format) through three aspects: raw materials, manufacturing process, and weight reduction of module glass, achieving a 61.8% reduction. It is estimated that using double-beam alloy steel frames for 1GW of modules can reduce carbon emissions by 73,700mt. Strong alliance, embarking on a new journey of cooperation Zhongjian Materials joins hands with Hangzhou Bicheng Energy Development Co., Ltd. to sign a strategic cooperation agreement Bicheng Energy (PCG Power) is a leading investment management and operation service provider for new-type power systems in the industry and one of the world's leading investment and operation service providers for industrial and commercial distributed clean energy power plants. Its shareholders include international capital such as Temasek and GLP, as well as domestic leading industrial capital such as Huamei International, Zhongding Capital, Xinlian Capital, NIO Capital, and Xinghang Capital. In 2024, it achieved an investment, construction, and grid connection scale of over 1GW. Bicheng Energy (PCG Power) is committed to providing enterprises, industrial parks, and cities with cost-effective, intelligent, and reliable one-stop green energy solutions. With the investment and construction of new energy PV+ESS power plants as a strategic pivot, it integrates full value chain business modules, including power asset operation, integrated energy services, power trading, carbon asset management, and energy IoT technological innovation. Relying on six operational centers in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, and Xi'an, we have established a nationwide asset expansion and management network. Our domestic business covers hundreds of cities, while our overseas business extends to international new energy potential markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Through this strategic signing, both parties will engage in in-depth cooperation on the practical application of "double-beam alloy steel frames" in real projects, jointly promoting the adoption and implementation of high-strength, high-reliability PV structural solutions in more scenarios, and accelerating the industry's development towards a safer, more efficient, and greener direction. In addition to Bicheng Energy, Backbone Materials has also formed strategic partnerships with PowerChina Guiyang Institute and PowerChina Sichuan Institute, and signed an agreement with Saifute New Energy for the 500MW steel frame project in Shizuishan, Ningxia, demonstrating customers' high recognition of Backbone's products and technological approach. In the future, Backbone Materials will continue to advance the upgrade and iteration of steel frame products in terms of materials, structures, and system applications, collaborating with partners to build a new structure for the high-quality development of PV systems, providing solid support for the global energy transition and the realization of the "dual carbon" goals. Contact Information Phone 0512-52363688 Email info@backbonesolar.com Website www.backbonesolar.com Address No. 99, Yangguang Avenue, Yushan High-tech Zone, Changshu City, Suzhou

At the 2025 SMM (2nd) Global Renewable Metal Industry Chain Summit - Main Forum hosted by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd., Allen Cui, Director of SMM Nonferrous Consulting, shared insights on the topic of "Prospects for the Development of the Global Secondary Metal Industry."