Manufacturing

An international research team has developed a metallization technique for TOPCon solar cells that can reportedly reduce silver usage in the devices’ rear side by 85%. The scientists replaced the commonly used Ag fingers with intermittent Ag dashes for contact formation and Ag-free fingers and busbars for electrical conduction.

SolarPower Europe (SPE) has dropped Huawei as a member amid an EU corruption investigation, as the European Commission moves to sever ties with trade groups representing the Chinese tech giant. The decision marks the first such removal by the Brussels-based solar lobby.

Sungrow Hydrogen has started production at China’s largest dual-tech green hydrogen project combining PEM and alkaline electrolyzers, while HNO International has partnered with Zhuhai Topower to pilot its modular hydrogen platform in China.

With the increasing pressure to decarbonise the energy system while preserving arable land and biodiversity, agrivoltaics is quickly becoming a vital pathway towards sustainable development. A new report from the IEA PVPS Task 13 lays out a compelling vision for how solar energy and agriculture can not only coexist but thrive together.

Longi has developed the Hi-MO S10, a residential heterojunction (HJT) back-contact solar module with 25% efficiency, combining 27.6%-efficient cells with up to 510 W output and 252.3 W/m² power density.

A new report by SolarPower Europe, with India-specific projections contributed by the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), projects India’s solar module manufacturing capacity to increase significantly from 80 GW in 2025 to 160 GW by 2030. Cell manufacturing capacity is projected to grow from 15 GW to 120 GW.

Solex Energy Ltd will supply 310 MW of n-type TOPCon 615 Wp glass-to-glass (G12R) solar PV modules to KPI Green Energy’s projects for Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd.

The funding will support the construction of a new state-of-the-art 4 GW TOPCon cell facility in Dholera, Gujarat.

Experts set to speak at the NetZero Milan Expo-Summit 2025 on May 15 have told pv magazine that tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) will remain the dominant cell technology in the near term due to ongoing advancements, despite rising competition from back-contact and heterojunction technologies.

To support the projected EV growth, India’s cumulative installed electric vehicle (EV) charging points—public and captive—will need to grow from around 76,000 in 2024 to between 0.9 million and 2.1 million by 2032, according to the report by India Energy Storage Alliance (IES) and Customized Energy Solutions (CES).