New production process could double wafer throughput to up to 20,000 per hour
Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE – together with a consortium of plant manufacturers, metrology companies, and research institutions – have developed a new production line concept for high-efficiency silicon cells, with a throughput of 15,000 to 20,000 wafers per hour – roughly double the usual amount.
New electroluminescence tech for daily solar module inspections
Enertis Applus+ and the GdS Optronlab Group have developed a system to enable daytime electroluminescence in the inspection of PV modules.
Fimer secures €45 million of funds, announces relaunch
Italy’s Fimer has launched proceedings to restructure its debt and is now ready to restart production.
Dutch government asks energy suppliers to adjust billing practices for net metering
Rob Jetten, the Dutch energy minister, said the nation’s energy suppliers should implement billing practices for net-metered solar on a yearly basis, and not on a monthly or quarterly basis.
Hithium unveils 300 Ah battery for rooftop PV applications
Hithium’s new battery has an energy efficiency of 95% and an energy density of 170 Wh/kg. It can purportedly operate for more than 12,000 cycles.
Credence Solar unveils 670 W bifacial solar modules
India’s Credence Solar has unveiled the Quasar-Bi line of bifacial PV modules, with power outputs ranging between 650 W and 670 W. The panels are built with 132 mono PERC half cells and 12 busbars.
Solinteg unveils single-phase inverters for residential PV
Solinteg’s new inverters have an efficiency of 98.1% and a European efficiency of 97.5%.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Trina to build 15 GW solar module factory
Trina Solar plans to build a module factory in Huaian, Anhui province, while polysilicon manufacturer GCL Energy has announced plans to build a manufacturing base in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia.
‘Made in Brazil’ solar
Sengi Solar announced a BRL 440 million ($85 million) investment earlier this month to set up two solar panel factories in Brazil. The PV manufacturer recently spoke to pv magazine about the incentives that led to the decision, future technological developments, and its path to 100% Brazilian solar manufacturing.
Opto-electro-thermal model to predict solar cell temperature, output
French scientists have developed a fully coupled opto-electro-thermal model that reportedly predicts solar cell behavior under real operating conditions in a standalone framework. They said the model can detect the impact of cell doping on the operating temperature and the temperature coefficient.
