Review: above 500 Wp solar panels
Above 500 Wp solar panels era
Recent research from BloombergNEF shows a significant drop of LCOE in the renewable energy sector. In 2020, solar and wind energy became cheaper than coal as a source of electricity in global trend setters such as the USA, many EU members, China, India etc.
To catch up with this new tendency, manufacturers are adopting bigger wafer sizes to increase the power output from a single module and therefore reduce the LCOE even further. In this article, we have compiled a short but exhaustive overview of the new ultra-high solar panels launched only recently by seven Tier 1 manufacturers.
Ultra high power modules Tier 1 manufacturers
Canadian Solar
On July 1st, CanadianSolar celebrated Canada Day 2020 by introducing their new 5th and 6th series of solar modules.
Canadian Solar core technologies, include:
- Advanced dual cells with LDS (low damage slicing) and MBB (multi busbar) reduce cell micro-cracking risk significantly.
- HTR (hetero type ribbon) + PA (paving) help to decrease the gap distance between cells from 2mm to under 0.7mm. This alone reduces the cell gap by 70% and boosts efficiency by 0.6%.
The 5th generation HiKu and BiHiKu modules offer up to 500 W. HiKu 5: 166mm dual cells with multi-bus bar (MBB) and paving technology.
The 6th generation HiKu and BiHiKu modules up to 590 W. HiKu 6: 182mm (M10) dual cells with multi-bus bar (MBB) and paving technology.
JA Solar
JA Solar has launched DEEPBLUE 3.0 large-area PV panel series, which provides power outputs of over 525 W.
DEEPBLUE 3.0: M10 182mm x 182mm large-area wafers with 11-busbars, Ultra-T glass and PERCIUM+ technologies.
Longi
There are two models of the new bifacial panel Hi-MO5, with Longi claiming power output of 540 W for the 72-cell product and 495 W for the 66-cells offering.
Hi-MO5: 182mm M10 wafer ‘smart welding’ technique to secure interconnection between cells, improving efficiency by 0.3% compared to standard multiple-busbar products and reducing cell tensile force by 20%.
Jinko
JinkoSolar launched a new module series, led by its 78TW panel, which offers a Tiger Pro power up to 580 W of power output. Equipped with Jinko’s tiling ribbon technology, their products are based on monocrystalline PERC cells, with an efficiency of 21.4%. All their modules are available in both mono and bifacial versions.
Risen
Risen Energy has unveiled new 500 Wp+ PV modules made with large, 210 mm M12 wafers. They claim that they could easily reach 600 Wp of output with a 60-cell panel, adding that they also believe they could hit 625 Wp with n-type cells.
Trina
The Duomax V and Tallmax V Trina panels are equipped with glass-glass and glass-backsheet frames, respectively. Both offer a reported 21% efficiency and reported power output of 500 W using 210 mm (M12) wafer and multiple busbars.
Comparison
Bigger wafers increase the power output of a module which consequently drives lower BOS and lower LCOE for PV systems. Here is an overview of the different wafer sizes and their designations that are commonly used in the PV industry.
Here is our sum-up of the 500 Wp+ modules stated above with the technical details that are known (as of today).
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