BIGGER CELL SIZES AND WHAT IS NEXT?
BIGGER CELL SIZES AND WHAT IS NEXT?
Did you know that the first module with a power rating of 48 watts was introduced in 1983? It had 36 cells with 100 x 100 mm wafers; they dominated the market for almost 13 years.
Thereafter, a manufacturer in the US brought panels with a power rating of 120 watts and 125 x 125 mm wafers. Later, they persisted as the standard size for many years.
In the solar world, panel efficiency has traditionally been the factor most manufacturers strive to achieve. However, more recently, a new battle emerged to develop the world’s most powerful solar panel, with many of the industry’s biggest players announcing larger-format next-generation panels with power ratings well above 500 W.
The main driver for developing larger, more powerful solar panels stems from the desire to decrease the cost of utility-scale solar farms, not so much for residential and small commercial applications. The extra-large size is not well suited and is challenging to handle on most residential rooftops.
Solana4U predicts the current trend is to increase the wafer size. Bigger cells reduce the unnecessary white space between the cells, making the panels more efficient per m2.
For more than ten years, the classic module with a cell size of 156 mm (M0 wafer), later 156.75 mm (M2 wafer), was considered the standard module and was very popular. As recently as 2018, 156.75-mm wafers accounted for about 80% of the market.
According to the leading companies, modules with 182 mm and 210 mm wafers are clearly superior to modules with smaller wafers in terms of manufacturing costs. Therefore, modules with these wafer sizes will probably prevail in the long term and make up the majority in 2022–2023.
Taking a 72-cell module as an example, the mainstream wattage output of mono modules will hit 390-400 W, whereas that of multi-modules might hover around 340-350 W, even when using larger wafers and half-cut techniques. With 50 W of the wattage gap and a price difference of only $0.03-0.04/W, multi-modules are no longer appealing to end users.
Gone are the days when these dimensions were a standard in the solar market; now new wafer sizes are being introduced every year. As manufacturers have begun to move ahead, they are now trying to maximize the active space available on the module to meet the modern demands for panels with higher power ratings. In the year 2019 alone, three wafer sizes were introduced: M3, M4, and M6.
In an M3-format wafer, the size has increased by 2 mm, and the dimension is 158.75 x 158.75mm. In this scenario, it is crucial to inform you that only the panel size increases due to the use of twin-cell technology. The wafer sizes of M4 and M6 are 161.7 mm and 166 mm, respectively. To stay ahead in the industry, some companies have even started introducing the M12 format in 210mm size. Usually, they were measured in inches, but presently, millimeters depict the wafer size.
However, the industry is trying to find ways to balance the equation—a wafer size that optimizes the module manufacturing process without adding complexity to the installation process.
This is why there are so many different panel sizes on the market. And they are changed with different sizes and capacities in quick succession until the market finds its new standard.
In the last few years, PV technology has undergone tremendous changes and brought new innovations such as half-cut panels, PERC technology, multi-bus bar designs, and the major shift to monocrystalline wafers from multi-crystalline ones. These ingenious developments are pushing high-quality and high-efficiency products into mainstream markets to gain a foothold.
The future?
Silicon is and has been the most popular material for solar cells because it is abundant and inexpensive to refine. Also, the cab size between silicon’s conduction and valence bands is favorable.
A new design needs to:
· Capture more light.
· Transform light energy into electricity more efficiently.
· Less expensive to build.
Tracking panels should increase the layers of light-capturing material, using thinner cells to reduce cost by 2 microns instead of the current standard of about 160–180 microns.
At the moment, the theoretical efficiency of silicon is almost reached, so we at Solana4U are curious to witness and inform you on the future technology of solar.
Stay tuned to our blog and FAQ for the latest information on solar technologies.
Keywords: Wafer size, cell size, ingot, efficiency solar
