Energy research Centre of the Netherlands

While shingled cells have been around for a while, Tongwei’s adoption of the technology is notable as it is a manufacturer with considerable scale. If shingling can overcome some hurdles, it could prove a welcome solution as unshaded sites for PV become elusive in mature solar markets.

The cell was created by applying a newly developed perovskite cell on top of an industrial bifacial crystalline silicon version. The resulting cell is said to better harvest sunlight, as one unit is optimized for high energy photons and the other absorbs low energy particles.

The Netherlands-based equipment manufacturer will provide an unidentified solar cell maker in China with a 200 MW production line. The supply agreement includes the possible expansion of the line to 1 GW. The equipment will produce n-type crystalline-silicon cells for bifacial modules.