Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The Indian solar industry’s transition to TOPCon and HJT underscores the need for technological upgrades and increased investment in cell manufacturing capabilities.

The European Council has adopted new amendments to clarify which entities should bear the costs of managing electronic waste, including PV modules.

Chinese solar manufacturer Longi has developed a new “anti-dust” module for the commercial and industrial (C&I) market in Australia. The frame sits flush against the glass on the short side, allowing water to wash off.

The novel methodology is reportedly able to track global maximum power point and reduce power losses in partially shaded PV systems by up to 33%. It uses a backstepping controller (BSC) algorithm to adjust the pulse width modulation signal and a genetic algorithm to compute the BSC gains to achieve an optimal PV system outcome.

An international research team has developed a novel way to remanufacture fully encapsulated perovskite solar cells after recycling. The researchers say the devices can achieve 88% of the original efficiency of the products.

Onix Renewable said it intends to use the proceeds from the issue to finance its renewable power projects and scale up solar module production capacity to 1.2 GW.

REC has developed a new series of residential heterojunction solar panels with efficiencies ranging from 20.6% to 22.2% and an operating temperature coefficient of -0.24% per degree Celsius.

A research team in Germany claims to have achieved the highest open-circuit voltage ever recorded to date for a perovskite solar cell based on hybrid methylamine lead chloride (MAPbCl3). The novel perovskite absorber was fabricated with a two-step deposition method and annealing under molecular nitrogen (N2) gas inside a glovebox.

The production of PV ingots and wafers remains the most highly concentrated of all the production stages in the silicon solar supply chain. Yet efforts to re-establish production in Europe and the United States are not for the faint-hearted.

The Chinese module manufacturer led an international research team seeking silicon material savings and efficiency gains in the development of heterojunction PV devices. The cell achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.06% with a thickness of 57 μm, with Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research confirming the result.