L R AS Published on Sunday 21 January 2018 - n° 218 - Categories:placing on the market
DZS (SunPower) features a 400 W shingle panel
China's DZS (consisting of SunPower and its Chinese licensees Dongfang Electric and Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor), presented shingled photovoltaic panels with an output power of 400 W. Its current production capacity of
0.7 GWp, will be increased to 5 GWp in 2020.
The panels are made of PERC mono-silicon cells (DZS currently has an annual production capacity of 1 GWp). Each cell is divided into six parts. The parts are closely aligned with overlapping edges to increase the space occupied by the solar cells on the surface of the panel. This shingled arrangement increases the number of cells compared to a conventional panel, thus providing higher output power.
The shingles manufactured by DZS have an output power that is 13% higher than that of standard panels. Their light-induced degradation is less than 2.5% in the first year of operation, and less than 0.55% on average in subsequent years.
According to the manufacturers, there are no patent issues or technological barriers for shingle panels, but the production equipment is expensive. These panels, where each solar cell is halved, have higher efficiencies. This type of product is expected to become widely available in 2018, with total annual production estimated at 5 GWp in China by the end of the year.
Digitimes of 19 January 2018
