• China’s Trina Solar has started mass production of N-type i-TOPCon double-glass bifacial solar modules at its Changzhou located fab
  • These modules integrate more than 80% bifaciality with an extra 5% to 30% power generation from the backside
  • It has 425-watt front side power output and efficiency of 20.7% and uses 144 half-cut TOPCon cells

Chinese solar PV module manufacturer Trina Solar has started mass production of its N-type i-TOPCon double-glass bifacial modules, carrying more than 80% bifaciality with an extra 5% to 30% power generation from their backside. These modules come with a 425 W front side power rating and an efficiency of 20.7% using 144 half-cut TOPCon cells on a 72-cell footprint.

Trina says the new i-TOPCon double glass PV modules also integrate multi-busbar (MBB) design, full square cells dual-side as well as half-cut technologies. Trina emphasizes that these highly efficient modules feature a lower temperature coefficient and lower light induced degradation (LID) than standard cells, thus enabling better power generation.

It said research on the i-TOPCon cell was started at its State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Science & Technology (SKL PVST), which was then transferred into full-scale mass production in a workshop at the company’s fab in Changzhou, China. The company did not share how much bifacial module capacity it plans to manufacture here.

In May 2019, Trina announced a front side 24.58% conversion efficiency for its N-type mono-crystalline i-TOPCon bifacial solar cell; the efficiency was confirmed by Germany’s ISFH CalTec (see Trina & Canadian Solar Report Cell Efficiency Records).