In the past, module manufacturers mostly relied on cell level performance to improve module output power. This led to PERC finding a footing a few years ago to now establishing itself as the state-of-the-art cell technology. PERC's efficiency, however, is on the cusp of hitting its economic limits; PV manufacturers have to look for alternative ways. Betting on advanced cell architectures such as HJT, IBC and TOPCon is one way to do that, and there has been a lot of progress in this direction, as the presenters showed at the TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar conference (all presentation recordings are accessible here). A short-term alternative and much easier approach is to stay with PERC as long as possible and focus on increasing the module size to improve module power. Employing larger wafers to boost the panel power – a low hanging fruit– was a big hit among PV producers in 2020. And today's market is flooded with different wafer sizes.
However, leading integrated companies opted and declared M10, a pseudo-square wafer format with length of 182 mm, as the standard for largest wafer size. The advantages of module products based on M10 wafers was also the topic for the first day of the TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on High Efficiency Solar Technologies held on Dec 1, 2020.
Three leading vertically integrated PV manufacturers – JinkoSolar, JA Solar and LONGi Solar – presented their views on the benefits of 182 mm wafer-based solar modules along the manufacturing chain and costs, shipping, installation and finally the levelized cost of ownership (LCOE) for power generation from a PV system. A keynote from German engineering association VDMA's PV Chapter, responsible for the annually published International Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), provided the framework and introduction to the event.
For more specifications on PERC module products based on M10 wafers modules, please check TaiyangNews report on High Efficiency Solar: Featuring PERC Modules with M10/182mm Cells Towards Very High Efficiency Products –A Conference Summary, which can be downloaded for free here.
The recording of the discussion panel on M10/182mm based solar modules with executives from LONGi, JinkoSolar, JA Solar and TÜV Rheinland can be viewed here.