Europe’s PV installations are primarily concentrated in distributed rooftop segments, accounting for about 60% of the market, with the residential and commercial segment contributing equal shares. Partial shading on mounted PV modules is a growing concern, given the high share of installations and rooftops with permanent shading from nearby obstacles (e.g., chimneys and building parts). During the TaiyangNews Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2026 conference, Hamid Hanifi, Director of Technology and Innovation at AESOLAR, detailed the company’s latest shade-resistant module to address these challenges.
He began with a brief explanation of how individual cells act as a load under reverse-biased conditions rather than as generators under partial shading. This might lead to power reduction, hotspots, and even generate fire in extreme permanent shading scenarios. However, the threshold voltage for reverse breakdown vary by cell technology. The reverse breakdown voltage, after which the shaded cell passes high current, is higher for PERC and TOPCon but lower for BC cells.
Since 2018, the company has upgraded its shade-resilient PV module from the first-generation hot-spot-free product with individual cell-level bypass diodes to the latest ShadeStar series. The new module features bypass diodes at evenly shared cell segments. This module features 80 G12 half-cut TOPCon cells, rated at 440 W with a maximum efficiency of 22.04%. The monofacial module has a full-black appearance. According to Hainifi, it will be available in two variants: active and passive bypass diode.
The company assessed this module’s performance in nine different real-world shading scenarios, comparing it with TOPCon and PERC butterfly peers in Fraunhofer CSP’s in-house lab. Hanifi highlighted results for three scenarios, with the ShadeStar module outperforming its counterparts in all three. Because this module generates energy regardless of shading, she suggests weighing energy yield over peak power when selecting PV modules.
The company showcased its shade-resistant module with a live demonstration of the shading behavior at Intersolar Europe 2026.
The presentation video is available on the TaiyangNews YouTube channel here.
