3SUN, with an existing 200 MW HJT cell line, expanded its module production by adding 5 HJT lines with 600 MW capacity each and started production in September 2024
The company adopted smart manufacturing features into its production stages to improve product quality
3SUN, in collaboration with the CEA-INES technology center and Von Ardenne, has experimented with multiple TCO structures for cost reduction and efficiency improvements
It also added innovative LED-based light-soaking equipment from Applied Materials (AMAT) for in-line post-treatment of HJT cells
Europe, once at the pinnacle of global PV technology development and mass production, has been outsmarted by China over the past decade. On top of that, the oversupply of imported modules in the European Union (EU) market, coupled with the plummeting average selling price (ASP), has led to the closure of remaining European PV manufacturers. Recognizing the growing strategic risk of over-dependency on non-European suppliers in the energy sector, the EU launched initiatives aimed at reducing this reliance by at least 30% by 2030.
Recently, 3SUN, an Italian manufacturer of HJT PV cells and modules, currently in the process of ramping up its production capacity to 3 GW, received €190 million from the European Innovation Fund and the Italian Contratto di Sviluppo, part of a total investment of €1 billion in CapEx and OpEx. Aligning with the strategic initiative to reshoring a resilient PV supply chain in Europe, the EU and Italy have supported the development of a European gigafactory, with 3SUN as a major beneficiary. This project has created 1,000 direct jobs and almost an equal number of indirect jobs in Sicily, Italy.
At the recent TaiyangNews annual flagship event, High-Efficiency Solar Technologies 2024, Cosimo Gerardi, CTO of 3SUN, shared some insight into the progress of scaling up the annual production capacity to 3 GW (see 3SUN presentation here).
Demand Side
According to BloombergNEF’s latest data, global PV installed capacity has increased by 600 GW in 2024. Gerardi anticipates that the EU’s annual installation will double by 2027, in line with SolarPower Europe's report titled The EU Market Outlook for Solar Power 2023-2027 report. By the end of 2025, the demand for PV modules in the EU is expected to be divided into 3 major segments: more than 60% from distributed generation, 30% from utility-scale projects, and the remainder from the commercial & industrial (C&I) sector.
3SUN launched its HJT technology in 2018, reaching a production efficiency of 24.6% for HJT cells by 2020. In 2022, the company began a 15x capacity expansion to the gigawatt (GW) level. In response to Europe’s growing demand from both utility-scale and distributed generation segments, 3SUN introduced 2 HJT module series – B60 and M40 – in 2023. With an existing 200 MW HJT cell line, the company expanded its module production by adding 5 HJT lines of 600 MW each, starting production in September 2024. The 3 GW HJT module production from 3SUN is projected to yield 5 million modules per year, or 14,000 modules per day. This translates to 300 million solar cells annually (800,000 per day), generating 5.5 TWh of renewable energy per year and preventing 25 million tons of CO2 emissions over the next decade, emphasized Gerardi.
3SUN’s state-of-the-art factory incorporates intelligent manufacturing, high automation control, and tracking for quality assurance at each production step. The company plans to integrate advanced features, including artificial intelligence (AI) and complex data tools like computer vision, binning optimization, and AI-driven predictive maintenance, all of which will help ensure high product quality. AI predictive maintenance can process large numbers of images, such as electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) images, for real-time quality monitoring.
3SUN recognizes the advantages of HJT cell production, including low-temperature processes, reduced wafer thickness, enhanced thermomechanical and thermal stability, higher bifaciality compared to competitors, and fewer process steps. The company has adopted several technological innovations to further improve efficiency. These include using cheaper and thinner wafers with slightly higher oxygen content, incorporating a nanocrystalline silicon layer between the intrinsic amorphous silicon (i-a-Si) and TCO layers, and developing advanced TCO target materials that reduce free carrier absorption in the TCO.
In collaboration with the CEA-INES technology center and Von Ardenne, a PVD tool maker, 3SUN has established that using thinner TCO layers on the cell backside does not affect front-side efficiency, though it slightly reduces the bifaciality factor. To address the 80% of PVD operating expenses related to ITO material in HJT production, experiments showed that ITO/AZO/ITO triple layers achieve efficiencies comparable to single ITO layers, while a few nanometers of ITO capping prevent module degradation. To tackle the potential dark degradation issue in HJT cells, 3SUN incorporated fast, cost-effective, LED-based light-soaking equipment from Applied Materials (AMAT) for in-line post-treatment of HJT cells.
The company has also adopted technological advancements in metallization, using silver-coated copper paste with 50% silver content, with plans to reduce this to 30%. Additionally, 3SUN is collaborating with RiSE Technology to experiment with copper plating technology to further reduce metallization costs. At the module level, the company has incorporated UV-light conversion film to boost power output.
Beyond HJT, 3SUN is continuously investing in research and development (R&D) for ultra-high efficiency HJT tandem perovskite cells, which are compatible with HJT’s low-temperature processing steps.