l'Actualité du Solaire

By recommending M6 inserts with 166 mm sides, LONGI started the wafer war. This larger size than the traditional M2 size (156 mm side length) provides a larger light receiving area.

This increases cell and panel power, while reducing manufacturing costs per watt: the electrical equipment will be reduced (between generations of LONGi panels, the BoS gain is estimated at 7%, i.e. €0.01, and the electricity gain at 1.4%); the investors' gain will be increased.

JinkoSolar considers that LONGi has launched the wafer format war, and is still sceptical about the interest of this new format, believing that the industry has difficulty in offering decent gains from one generation of wafers to another. The company believes that major users will wait for the most relevant advances to be adopted before changing their format, such as type N or a major technological breakthrough.

Tecsol of 23rd August

Editor's note (cf The wafer will go from 156mm to 166 mm) The great difficulty when technology evolves very quickly is to understand which one will be the winner and which one is just a fad. Depending on the choice, the company concerned follows the movement, or on the contrary is progressively marginalised.

In the case of wafer size, JinkoSolar would do well to remember that LONGi is the world leader in the production of wafers and that its choice is based on the fact that it is the world's largest producer of wafers.Its choice will impose itself because of its weight, but also because of the gain, even minimal, obtained with larger inserts, without obliging the manufacturers of the sector to change equipment. The choice of LONGi will impose itself. JinkoSolar would do well to be wary.