Risen Energy presented its HJT roadmap, highlighting progress in silver reduction, thinner wafers, and higher-efficiency cell and module technologies
The company outlined approaches including low-silver and silver-free metallization, along with reduction in indium consumption
The roadmap also includes p-type HJT cells for space applications, designed with 50 µm wafers for improved radiation tolerance under AM0 conditions
One of the leaders in manufacturing commercial heterojunction (HJT) technology, with over 12 GW of global cumulative shipments, Risen Energy presented its HJT technology roadmap at the TaiyangNews Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2026. During the presentation, Po-Chuan Yang, Dean of the Global PV Research Institute at Risen, outlined the company’s latest developments in reducing silver consumption and wafer thickness, along with pathways to improve cell and module efficiencies.
Risen says it has achieved mass production status for its 760 W high-power module in 2026, with a targeted commercialization date of 2027. Currently, TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES features Risen's commercialized HJT module with 740 W power. Other milestones for the company in 2026 include launching an ultra-thin p-type HJT cell and introducing an energy storage system (ESS).
The higher-power HJT module also saves water, electricity, and carbon, with only 300 kg/kW CO2 emissions as compared with other mainstream technologies. Working together with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Risen further aims to reduce emissions in its HJT manufacturing. Additionally, the company focuses on reducing production costs by lowering material consumption.
One key material that can significantly impact HJT manufacturing costs is silver. In the silver consumption roadmap, Yang highlighted that the company’s HJT technology currently uses only 15% silver in its paste compared to 60% in 2023. Together with Swiss-based research institute CSEM, Risen is also developing a solution to further reduce silver and even move toward silver-free metallization. The silver-lean approach uses a low-silver seed layer comprising less than 10% silver, followed by a pure copper paste metallization. For the silver-free approach, a copper seed grid is plated onto the cell. In a period where the supply of silver is drastically reduced, Yang also claimed indium reduction by 50%, while maintaining reference cell efficiency. Risen is also consistently reducing wafer thickness and claims to have optimized its process to manufacture cells from wafers as thin as 70 µm.
Some of these developments are already incorporated in its latest Hyperion Pro modules that can deliver a maximum power of 745 W and 24% efficiency. These modules use 110 µm G12-based multi-cut cells with a zero busbar (0BB) design and zero-gap cell interconnection. With a 15-year product warranty, the module has 90.3% power retention at the end of 30 years.
For space applications, Risen is developing HJT cells based on p-type wafers, which have higher radiation-hardness tolerance. Yang said that these cells are made on 50 µm 210 × 105 mm wafers and can deliver 21% efficiency initially, under AM0 illumination conditions. Modules made from these cells for application in low-Earth orbit (LEO) are marketed as RisenFlex Nova.
