At present, the promotion of carbon neutral target has become a global consensus, driven by the rapid growth of installed demand for PV, the global PV industry continues to develop. In the increasingly fierce market competition, the technologies are constantly updated and iterated, large size and high power module products have become a major trend, in addition to quality, cost and other factors, technical innovation is also an important cornerstone of industrial development.

2023 Solar PV module innovation technology summit held together to look at the new future of PV module development
On January 31, 2023, the “2023 Solar PV Module Innovation Technology Summit”, hosted by the internationally renowned media TaiyangNews, was held as scheduled. Many famous PV companies from home and abroad gathered online to discuss the development trend of PV module innovation technology.

In the technology innovation seminar, Xia Zhengyue, head of module product development of Tongwei, was invited to deliver a speech titled “Module Innovation from the World’s Largest PV Cell Manufacturer”, sharing the latest module technology progress developed by Tongwei. In addition, TaiyangNews conducted an interview with Dr. Xing Guoqiang, Chief Technical Officer of PV of Tongwei, to introduce Tongwei’s production capacity, technology R&D and other related topics, and to look forward to the future technology development route of module products.

Reviewing the development history of Tongwei PV industry, Tongwei has established 3 national first-class PV technology R&D centers, aimed at the technology frontier, independently developed the industry’s first 1GW 210 TNC mass production line, the industry’s first large-size advanced metallization test line, as well as the construction of new cells and modules industry mainstream technology pilot line, etc., to continue innovation and inject vigorous vitality into the industry development.

TOPCon and HJT dual route advance in parallel TNC technology innovation leads new development
Currently, PERC cells are close to the theoretical limit efficiency, and the proportion of N-type cells will gradually increase. In an exclusive interview, Dr. Xing Guoqiang, Chief Technical Officer of PV of Tongwei, mentioned that currently, Tongwei is advancing in parallel with both TNC and THC technologies. Considering the subsequent need to quickly adapt to the changing market demand, Tongwei’s current module capacity layout is designed to be compatible with different cell and module technologies.

N-type technology is penetrating rapidly. Cost, yield and stability of conversion efficiency are the keys to N-type mass production. At the same time, N-type products are also the most concerned point in the industry in terms of cost and selling price. Through continuous technology upgrade and innovation, the current TNC high-efficiency module with 182-72 double-glass version for example can increase the power by more than 20W compared with the traditional PERC products, and has about 10% higher bifacial rate than PERC. Therefore, TNC high-efficiency modules are already economical and will become a new generation of products that bring higher power generation, higher reliability and lower attenuation to power plants.

As one of the first leading manufacturers to enter the HJT field, the highest R&D efficiency of Tongwei’s current HJT cells has reached 25.67% (ISFH certification). On the other hand, the successful application of copper interconnection technology has also significantly reduced the metallization cost of HJT. At present, HJT technology with high conversion efficiency, low attenuation and other advantages given high expectations by the market, but limited by the high cost of investment has not yet ushered in the explosion. With the significant increase in cell efficiency and the advancement of mass production conditions, the leading edge of Tongwei’s HJT technology layout is becoming more and more obvious, while “reducing costs and increasing efficiency” with both hands, HJT will usher in a key milestone in its development.

In addition, since 2020, Tongwei has independently developed “TNC” (Tongwei N-passivated contact cell) technology, and the current mass production conversion efficiency of TNC cells has exceeded 25.1%. According to Xia Zhengyue, TNC cell has high bifacial rate, low attenuation, better temperature coefficient, good response to low light and other performance advantages, self-produced 182 size 72 version type half-sheet module power up to 575W+, higher than PERC 20W+, 10% higher bifacial rate, has reached the industry leading level. The bifacial modules produced with this technology have a 3-5% higher average power generation gain per watt than traditional PERC bifacial modules, truly achieving high power generation gain.

Tongwei’s high-efficiency modules take into account the advantages of different products to achieve a wide range of applications covering all scenarios. For example, the 182-72 product with high system advantages is chosen for large ground power plant scenarios; the 182-54 product with high sensitivity to size requirements can be chosen for residential rooftop scenarios.

With the advantages of silicon cell double leader, Tongwei’s vertical integration process is in full progress
The year 2022 was an extraordinary year for Tongwei’s module segment. in August, Tongwei announced the acceleration of its module business layout and the rapid implementation of its module expansion plan, fully promoting the vertical integration process of its PV industry; since then, it has successively won a number of module bidding projects of central state-owned enterprises; in October, Tongwei announced that the whole series of its stacked tile Terra modules had passed the carbon footprint certificate awarded by the French authority Certisolis In October, Tongwei announced that its full series of stacked tile Terra modules had been awarded the carbon footprint certificate by Certisolis, a French authority; in November, Tongwei’s independently developed TNC high-efficiency cell innovation technology was awarded as one of the top ten innovative technologies of “Zero Carbon China” in 2022; subsequently, it was ranked as Tier 1 on BNEF’s list of global PV Tier 1 module manufacturers in the fourth quarter of 2022, fully reflecting the market’s high recognition of Tongwei’s high-efficiency modules. This reflects the market’s high recognition of Tongwei’s high-efficiency modules.

According to Dr. Xing Guoqiang, the module capacity of Tongwei will reach 14GW in 2022, and the total module capacity is expected to reach 80GW by the end of 2023. A solid foundation for the rapid development of the module business.

The more intense the competition, the stronger the innovation drive; the larger the market scale, the more important the building of competitiveness, facing the fast-growing market, Tongwei still has the determination to go forward and take big and steady steps. In the future, Tongwei will continue to consolidate its technological innovation strength, further enhance its overall competitiveness, provide efficient and high-quality products to upstream and downstream partners, and help green energy development and build a new ecology of sustainable PV industry.