Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Indian manufacturer Gautam Solar released n-type TOPCon solar modules for the residential, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale PV markets at Intersolar Europe 2023. It is offering the modules in all black, silver frame, glass-to-glass bifacial, and lightweight bifacial variants.

Munich-based Wacker announced it intends to set up a new production line for semiconductor-grade polysilicon at its facility in Burghausen, Germany. The €300 million ($324.4 million) investment would expand the manufacturing capacity of the ultrapure polysilicon by over 50%.

Q-Sun Solar says it plans to invest CNY 6.2 billion ($865.6 million) to build 10 GW of solar cell capacity and 12 GW of PV panel capacity.

pv magazine is on the ground bringing you the latest developments from this year’s three-day European solar shindig in Munich.

Scientists in China and Canada have developed an additive that forms covalent bonds with the organic materials in a perovskite solar cell, leading to fewer defects and greatly reduced degradation. Cells treated with the additive maintained 98.6% of their initial performance after 1,000 hours in testing. Xlynx Materials, a company spun out of the University of Victoria in Canada, is making the material available for further commercial trials.

Jordanian researchers have developed a method using acrylic sheets to reflect and absorb unused solar radiation in PV power generation. The solution has the potential to decrease solar panel temperature by more than 14% and increase power yields by approximately 2%.

The extent to which PV-powered vehicles contribute to a reduction of CO2 emissions depends on variables such as the carbon intensity of the local grid, driving patterns, and solar irradiation. The market introduction requires technical optimization of the PV, but also of the vehicles.

The German PV testing equipment provider said its new Sinus-3000 Pro line is an ‘all-in-one system’ that can perform power measurements, bypass diode testing, insulation testing, visual inspection, and electroluminescence measurements. It is also offering the Sinus-3000 Advanced line for the testing of perovskite-silicon tandem, multi-junction and other new material cells.

Recom is offering five versions of its new all-black panels, with power outputs ranging from 440 W to 460 W and efficiency ratings of 22.5% to 23.6%. They feature 108 half-cut monocrystalline cells with n-type and back-contact technology.

Hurtigruten Norway. a cruise ship operator, said its new wind-solar-powered cruise vessel will be ready in 2030. It will have a storage capacity of 60 MWh.