Italian energy giant Enel's renewable energy arm Enel Green Power (EGP) has unveiled the 1st look of its new heterojunction (HJT) solar module with a prototype at the 8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC), touting an output of up to 680W.
To be made in Italy at the company's 3Sun Gigafactory, the bifacial HJT (B-HJT) modules will be based on G12 wafer size and promise close to 15% to 20% more electricity than conventional single sided panels. It will help reduce the number of panels to be installed and hence less surface area covered, leading to cost savings, the company said.
The module uses HJT cells with a power conversion efficiency of 24.6% and the module itself will have an average efficiency of between 22.6% to 22.9%. Power output for all various types will range from 640W to 680W. EGP said the primary target for these modules will be European utility scale applications, but it plans to expand the customer base to beyond borders as well.
"It extends the lifetime of the modules to more than 30 years, ensuring that the solar panels are more efficient and competitive from a number of perspectives, particularly the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE)," stated EGP.
Dubbed 3Sun TANGO, short for iTaliAN pv Giga factOry, the EGP facility in Italy's Catania is currently in the process of expanding the annual capacity from 200 MW to 3 GW to claim the title of the largest European PV panel production fab.
EGP will also conduct research and development (R&D) on the panels to develop a tandem structure with an aim to exceed 30% efficiency using bifacial panels in the future.
The 3 GW facility is scheduled to be fully commissioned by July 2024, but initial production of 400 MW will start from September 2023.
EGP's 3Sun expansion to 3 GW is backed by a €118 million grant from the European Commission (see Europe PV News Snippets).
TaiyangNews report on HJT Solar Technology 2022 ventures into high volume production plans for this technology. It can be downloaded for free here.