https://www.pv-tech.org/back-contact-cells-highly-competitive-compared-to-other-cell-technologies/
With the PV industry transitioning from p-type to n-type in terms of high-efficiency cell technology, manufacturers such as JinkoSolar have been primarily driving the development of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology, while other companies such as Huasun, Risen and Mingyang have turned their focus towards heterojunction (HJT – both technologies falling under the n-type umbrella.
For its part, LONGi has chosen to develop back-contact (BC) cells, again based on n-type technology, announcing plans to invest RMB3.92 billion (US$536 million) on production. Future cells will be based on the company’s HPBC ‘PRO’ high-efficiency technology, with roll-out expected to gradually commence from November 2024, reaching full capacity a year later
PV Tech: You mentioned that all technologies eventually lead to the BC structure, but how big is the leap to BC? How has LONGi’s BC cell production progressed to date?
Zhong: We did encounter some challenges during the mass production stage, addressing various processing difficulties during the first half of this year. Now, however, we can stably produce more than 1.5GW of BC cells per month, equivalent to an annual capacity of approximately 20GW. By the end of the year, we will have increased production to more than 2.2GW per month, giving us an annual production capacity of 30GW. The focus now is on improving yield and overall efficiency.
https://www.pv-tech.org/ja-solar-speaks-to-pv-tech-on-topcon-europe-and-low-pv-prices/
“JA, like all the manufacturers at the top end, have put their stall out for TOPCon as the major technology for the next 18, 24 months or so,” Mounsey said in conversation with PV Tech at the Solar & Storage Live 2023 event last week in Birmingham. He clarified, though, that this two-year period was the manufacturing expansion roadmap for JA and the wider TOPCon transition, not the shelf life for the technology itself.
He continued: “TOPCon is a well-balanced technology in terms of its cost of production and cost of factory setup, it’s balanced in terms of its usage because it’s good on the utility-scale looking at bifaciality and power, it’s good on the residential and commercial scale due to affordability and power.”
It’s also important to consider the background of industry work and knowledge on n-type TOPCon, Mounsey said, which makes it all the more desirable a technology for manufacturers to pursue.
“With PERC technologies we had to go through a process of learning about PID (potential-induced degradation) or LETID (light and elevated temperature-induced degradation), with n-type we’ve gone through a process of learning about water ingress and damp heat degradation, amongst other things.” This backlog of knowledge, as well as the relative ease with which PERC manufacturing equipment can be adapted to produce TOPCon, also adds a ‘plus’ to the technology.
“You have to pick a technology and go with it,” he said, and confirmed that JA Solar’s capacity for TOPCon production is “approaching 100GW, integrated. That includes modules, cells, wafers.”