- Canadian Solar has provided a concrete plan to enter TOPCon module mass production in Q1/2023
- It will start with 182mm modules initially, to be followed by 210mm product range in Q2/2023
- These modules will be available for utility scale, commercial and residential solar segments
- Managements expects these modules to account for close to 30% of its 2023 annual shipments
Canada based solar PV manufacturer Canadian Solar Inc will begin mass production for high efficiency n-type TOPCon solar modules through its majority owned subsidiary CSI Solar, in Q1/2023 with a power output of up to 690W and cell conversion efficiency of around 25%.
The modules will use both 182mm and 210mm wafer sized cells, with plans to deliver 182mm TOPCon modules in Q1/2023 and enter mass production for 210mm in Q2/2023.
Targeting utility scale, commercial and residential segments, Canadian Solar’s TOPCon portfolio includes 182mm cell based bifacial TOPBiHiKu6 modules having power ratings of 555W to 570W. Monofacial range of TOPHiKu6 modules will range between 420W and 575W.
It will also roll out 210mm cell based bifacial modules under TOPBiHiKu7 within 615W to 690W range.
TOPCon modules of the company will have a temperature coefficient of -0.30%/℃ to perform better under hot environments. These are designed to have less power degradation with no boron-oxygen related light induced degradation (LID). During testing, their power degradation was only 1.0% after 2,000 hours of damp and heat test, compared to 1.9% degradation of PERC modules under similar conditions.
The modules come with 30-year limited performance warranty for monofacial TOPCon.
Canadian Solar expects these modules to account for almost 30% of the company’s total module shipments in 2023 which it previously guided to fall between 20 GW to 35 GW (see Canadian Solar Shipped 6 GW Solar Modules In Q3/2022).
“The TOPCon modules will become one of our featured products with higher energy yield, lower LCOE and longer performance warranty, compared to the mainstream products in the market. The TOPCon modules will solidify our competitiveness in terms of technology leadership and pricing power,” said Canadian Solar Chairman and CEO Dr. Shawn Qu.
Canadian Solar holds the 6th spot on TaiyangNews Top Solar Modules Listing for November 2022 with its 22.5% efficient G12 based heterojunction (HJT) module (see Top Solar Modules Listing—November 2022).
The company was recently named by the US Department of Commerce as evading the country’s circumvention tariffs when shipping China made cells and modules from Southeast Asian nations to the US (see US Finds Chinese Companies Dodging Circumvention Tariffs).
The article was updated to reflect 25% is the cell conversion efficiency.
