Trina Solar has officially started manufacturing its first large-size module using silicon wafers with 210 mm side length. The new multi-busbar product uses an innovative 1/3-cut design, said the Chinese vertically integrated PV module producer. Trina claims this will pave the way for compatibility and integration of large-size, high-power modules and downstream systems. "The move will greatly accelerate time-to-market for large-size modules," it added.
"Currently, our team is accelerating the transformation of our latest R&D outcomes into products that can go into mass production, leading the PV industry into the era of 500 W module power," shared the company that claims the new module factors in potential challenges as strong module power, yield, manufacturing difficulties, hot spot risks, output current performance and junction box safety.
Trina Solar says it has been conducting research into modules with 210 mm cells since 2019.
Trend for larger wafers growing
Large sized wafers are said to help the modules generate more power thus enabling an overall reduction in costs. Tier I manufacturers are increasingly introducing larger wafers for their cell/module products.
In August 2019, Tianjn Zhonghuan Semiconductor launched its 12-inch large wafer product having 210 mm side length and claimed these M 12 wafers can push up module output to over 600 W.
Aiko Solar recently shared achieving mass production for its 210 mm side length high-efficiency solar cells using M12 wafers at its Yiwu, China fab. These, it said, will be sold commercially from H2/2020. Participating in a December 2019 TaiyangNews webinar on larger wafer formats, Aiko Solar's International Sales Director Vincent Lau said the world will keep moving forward in its journey to larger wafer sizes as these enable increase cell power leading to more competitive products in the market (see 'Big' Benefits For Modules).
Risen Energy said its super high-power module of 500 W uses ultra-large M12 wafers and a power conversion efficiency of 20.2%. The surface area of such large wafer based products is 80.5% larger.
However, the world's largest wafer producer LONGi Group pushes the 166 mm (M6) wafer format. Its production capacity is slated to exceed 20 GW in 2020 (see LONGi To Add 20 GW More Wafer Capacity In Chuxiong).