solar cell

REC Group has officially started volume production of heterojunction solar cells and modules at its manufacturing complex in Singapore that will provide 600MW of annual capacity, when fully ramped.

‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, JA Solar has licensed a number of patents from Shin-Etsu Chemical on doping Ga in silicon crystals and using the Ga-doped p-type crystalline silicon wafers for making solar cells to mitigate the impact of Light Induced Degradation (LID).

Major PV materials supplier, Heraeus Photovoltaics has collaborated with German company, Cell Engineering to develop metallisation pastes for its ‘LECO’ (Laser Enhanced Contact Optimization) technology that can increase multiple solar cell architectures conversion efficiencies by up to 0.15%.

Fraunhofer ISE has worked with German technology companies to improve the metallization process in silicon solar cells. The result could drive down module costs quite a bit.

Specialist automation and PV module assembly solutions provider, Mondragon Assembly has struck a deal with Korean equipment supplier, STiN for its ‘continuous stringing’ intellectual property (IP).

The latest figures show the solar policy vacuum, and related dearth of demand in China earlier this year accelerated price reductions for cell makers. Although prices are expected to rebound in line with renewed thirst for solar in China, cell makers such as Tongwei are feeling the pain.

The solar industry must work together to agree on standardised larger wafer sizes, according to monocrystalline solar manufacturer LONGi Group.

Perovskite solar cell developer, Oxford PV is to become a merchant heterojunction with perovskite top cell manufacturer with orders placed with Meyer Burger that will provide an initial 250MW of cell capacity that will enter production by the end of 2020.

The researchers have developed a new manufacturing process by using an ultra-thin absorbing layer made of 205-nanometer-thick gallium arsenide (GaAs) and a nanostructured back mirror.