Standardized PV Panel Size Gets Unanimous Votes

• Leading solar PV manufacturers are advocating adoption of rectangular silicon wafers for PV modules
• They have agreed to use 2,382mm x 1,134mm size for the new generation of mid-format modules
• They believe this standardization will reduce supply difficulties in the industrial chain and also prevent wastage of materials

Amidst multi-million marketing by manufacturers over the best silicon wafer sizes for solar modules and the ensuing confusion among eventual buyers, 9 leading PV manufacturers—Canadian Solar, Risen Energy, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, LONGi, Trina Solar, Tongwei Solar, DAS Solar and Astronergy—have unanimously picked 2,382mm x 1,134mm module size built with rectangular silicon wafers for their new generation of mid-format modules.

In a joint statement released, the manufacturers say their mid-format modules will have a module size of 2,382mm x 1,134mm and a longitudinal hole space of components with 400mm/ 790mm/ 1,400mm. JinkoSolar's Product Manager Leo Cong had earlier unveiled this during TaiyangNews Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2023 conference (see Review: Day 2—TaiyangNews Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2023 Conference).

The rationale behind this standardization is to reduce supply difficulties in the industrial chain, wastage of materials and challenges in the application of solar modules of different sizes.

All these manufacturers advocate that the industry should follow the T/CPIA 0003-2022 Technical Specification for Crystalline Silicon Terrestrial Photovoltaic Module Dimensions and Mounting Holes Standard of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) for the current and future size of 182 and 210 series of modules in the industry.

"Within the range of these sizes, each manufacturer adopts them according to their own conditions to meet the needs of different customers," they state.

However, module makers attaining this module size are still using different wafer sizes. For example, JA Solar is using a wafer size 182mm x 199mm, while JinkoSolar and TrinaSolar are employing a wafer size of 182mm x 210mm. The trick is, since slicing of cells any way became inevitable (there are no full cells modules in the mainstream), manufactures are cutting them in required format that can finally enable them to meet the above specific module dimensions. A 66-cell module built with 105mm x 210mm can easily meet the module size requirements of 2,382mm x 1,134mm.

Making such cells from 182mm x 210mm is a straightforward process, by slicing the cells into two equal parts. However, from the cell size of 182mm X 199mm, as in case of JA Solar, such cells can still be made by cutting a piece of 105mm x 182mm, while the remaining 94mm x 182mm can also be used to build a module for some other applications (see JA Solar's Schematic in the image).

According to Astronergy, the 9 companies have incorporated standardized sizes of rectangular silicon wafer modules into the standards of the CPIA.

Additionally, these 9 players have also jointly set up a Photovoltaic Module Size Standardization Research Group to be able to communicate regularly on the promotion of the standardization of new generation of rectangular silicon wafers and other types of module sizes.

In 2021, JA Solar, JinkoSolar and LONGi had agreed for the standardization of M10 modules (see Trio Release M10 Module Standardization).