High efficiency is always a buzzword in the global solar PV industry as it is key to lower cost. On day 1 of the High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference of TaiyangNews, several leading companies and experts in the field delved deep into the subject for the incumbent PERC technology with a focus on M10/182mm cell based products.
Recently, the 3 PV module manufacturing giants from China—LONGi Solar, JinkoSolar and JA Solar—announced a joint push for 182mm sized solar modules claiming their joint production capacity for such modules by 2021 will reach 54 GW (see 3 PV Giants Unite To Push 182mm Cell Based Modules).
The trio once again came together along with independent testing and certification firm TUV Rheinland on day 1 of TaiyangNews' conference on December 1, 2020 specifically to discuss opportunities and challenges for the industry to further their high efficiency product of choice these days – modules based on 182mm sized wafers/cells. All of them are expanding – and all of them prioritize this new cell format for their new lines.
Global Vice President of JinkoSolar, Dany Qian said her company is on its way to achieve the targeted 30 GW of solar module production capacity by the end of 2020. For the current year, JinkoSolar has provided a guidance of 18 GW to 20 GW of annual shipment with 99% to comprise high efficiency mono capacity with only 1% of multi products (see JinkoSolar Revenues Grew 22.2% YoY In Q2/2020).
While JinkoSolar didn't see any issues implementing the new format in production, and also says it has received great response from their customers, Qian said that the biggest hurdle to the new product is that the industry is facing a raw material shortage as solar glass and other materials which may act as a bottleneck for manufacturers in 2021.
Senior Technical Manager of JA Solar Ignacio Espinosa also said the expansion is moving on smoothly with its planned production ramp up and the company is already delivering orders with 182mm modules. On an average, he added, the company is seeing demand for its high efficiency products for an average of 400 MW on monthly basis.
TUV Rheinland's Vice General Manager, Solar & Commercial Products in Greater China, Sebastian Petretschek said the enthusiasm of manufacturers is quite high for such high efficiency products basis market demand they witness even though there isn't much change in the design of such products. However, when talking about reliability, Petretschek said that since the beginning of 2020, larger wafer products are coming in for testing and the firm has already certified some of these. But the failure rate has also gone up. Manufacturers have been dealing with these issues. You solve the issue, and the product gets re-tested, he said.
Indeed, the new module generation is heavier, comes with larger wafers, glass panes, and generates more power. LONGi Solar's Director of Product Marketing, Hongbin Fang argued that whenever there is a new technology or product it comes with a learning curve. These teething issues are being sorted out as companies continue to accelerate their inhouse research and development to better the product. All new 182 mm-based products on offer have passed the relevant performance and safety certificates. LONGi's response from the market has been very positive so far, he emphasized.
The detailed agenda of TaiyangNews' High Efficiency Solar Technologies conference is available on our website. Since the conference will continue till December 4, 2020, with a focus on HJT (Dec. 2), TOPCon (Dec. 3) and IBC (Dec. 4) free registrations are still open here.
Recordings of the presentations shared during the conference are now available for online viewing on TaiyangNews' You Tube Channel.
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