Seraphim signs up to build a 10 GW PV module fab in Guangzhou; JA Solar ships 1st batch of DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules from Dongtai base; Boamax and Huaneng come together to build 1 GW distributed PV plant; JinkoSolar shares its views on n-type TOPCon and BC technology.
Seraphim to set up 10 GW PV module fab in Guangzhou: Solar PV module maker Seraphim has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Huadu District People’s Government of Guangzhou to build a 10 GW photovoltaic module manufacturing facility in the district. The company plans to construct the fab in 2 phases, with an investment of approximately RMB 6 billion ($824.5 million). Expected to be completed in 3 years, each phase would involve setting up a 5 GW large-size fully compatible PV module production line. The facility is expected to generate RMB 10 billion ($1.37 billion) in annual revenues once fully up and running. In July, Seraphim announced a 300 MW solar module supply deal with ERS Energy (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
JA Solar’s Dongtai base ships 1st batch of DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules: Vertically integrated solar module maker JA Solar has announced that its Dongtai base has shipped the 1st batch of DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules. This shipment to Tibet marks the official start of shipments from the company’s Dongtai base. With certifications such as Dekai’s IEC 62892 thermal cycle test certificate, the ASTM E 1597 standard test certificate by UL Solutions, the company claims DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules to be suitable for the weather conditions in Tibet. Recently, Herbert Diess, the former CEO of German automobile giant Volkswagen, picked JA Solar to build a solar module factory in Germany under a joint venture (see European-Chinese Consortium Plans German PV Fab).
Boamax Technologies and Huaneng Renewables to jointly construct 1 GW distributed PV plant: Boamax Technologies and Huaneng Renewables Corporation Limited have announced that they have jointly signed an agreement with the Huaiyuan County People’s Government to construct a 1 GW distributed PV facility. The plant, to be constructed with an investment of about RMB 5 billion ($687 million), will use Boamax’s new generation of high-efficiency heterojunction PV modules. It is expected to generate about 1 billion kWh of power annually, displacing 1 million tons of CO2 emissions. Boamax, originally a CNC sheet metal technology company, only recently ventured into PV cell/module manufacturing (see China PV News Snippets).
JinkoSolar’s thoughts on n-type TOPCon and Back Contact technology: Module supplier JinkoSolar opines that n-type TOPCon products are the best choice for most customers because they offer the highest return on investment. The key advantages of this technology are high conversion efficiency, bifaciality, power generation, low attenuation, and a low temperature coefficient. All of these advantages combine to make n-type TOPCon the best cost-performance ratio technology, and it is the mainstream technology of choice for capacity expansion by leading PV manufacturers. JinkoSolar’s n-type modules have leading performance and high market recognition, with shipments exceeding 10 GW in a single quarter. Regarding Back Contact (BC) cell technology, the company said that it is still in its early stages of development, and is not cost-effective or efficient enough as yet to compete with n-type TOPCon. The company said that it is monitoring the progress of BC cell technology and has a wealth of continuous efficiency improvement methods for n-type TOPCon. The company also says that it has stockpiled BC technology based on n-type TOPCon, and is ready to launch when the technology is mature enough and there is demand in the market.
