Runergy is another example of exclusive cell vendors expanding into the module business. Peter Pang, Runergy's module technical support director, presented the company's module product family for different applications at the TaiyangNews conference (see presentation here).
Runergy was founded in 2013 and started with a cell capacity of 2 GW in 2018. By 2022, the company had ramped up its cell capacity to 25 GW and had cumulative shipments of 50 GW. In 2023, Runergy ventured into the module business and is planning to have 34 GW of n-type cell capacity and 21 GW of module capacity by the end of the year, and has set up a PV research institute in 2020.
Runergy was initially focused on PERC cell development, but has since shifted its focus to n-type technology. The company's n-type cell technology has an efficiency of 25.2% in 2023, and has a clear roadmap to increase this level to 26.2% by 2025.
Turning to module developments, Runergy highlights that its key advantage is that the cells are also made in-house, providing full control over the quality. The company has devised a module power roadmap for PERC and n-type products. With the PERC stream, taking the example of a 72-cell (144 half-cell) module, the company can currently achieve 545 W and expects to push it by one power class to 550 W by next year. As for n-type modules, the product will be available from Q3 2023 for the US and EU markets. Taking the example of a 72-cell (144 half-cell) bifacial module, the starting power rating will be at 580 W and is expected to hit 600 W in 2026.
Runergy's module product family consists of modules of different sizes with 54, 60, 72 and 78 cells, including a full black module to cover different applications such as residential rooftop, C&I and utility. For residential, the company is currently promoting 2 PERC products: a standard module with 405/410 W power and an all-black module with 400/405 W power rating. The company has also launched an n-type module for the rooftop application category. These are all-black double-glass bifacial modules with 420 W and 425 W power ratings and corresponding efficiencies of 21.5% and 21.8%, respectively.
For commercial rooftop projects, Runergy is offering 2 module series with 445/450 W and 550/555 W power ratings, using PERC technology. These are monofacial modules built with 120 and 144 half-cells. The company is also developing n-type modules for this application stream as well, which are slated to be launched in Q3 2023.
For utility-scale projects, in addition to the above 144 half-cell module, Runergy is also promoting a 156 half-cell module with 585/590 W power. These are bifacial modules using PERC technology. Additionally, the company has also launched n-type variants of the same module configurations. The 144 half-cell modules are again offered with 2 power classes of 575 W and 580 W, with efficiencies of 22.3% and 22.5%, respectively. The 156-cell module has a slightly lower efficiency of 22% and 22.2%, corresponding to power ratings of 615 W and 620 W. These n-type module products, with high power ratings of at least 20 W over the similar PERC products and high bifaciality enabled by the n-type architecture, are expected to provide high energy yields in utility-scale power plants.
The text is an excerpt from TaiyangNews New Solar Products Overview H1/2023, which can be downloaded for free here.