Singapore-based PV manufacturer REC has launched the latest version of its TwinPeak solar module. The 60-cell multicrystalline module can deliver up to 295Wp of output and employs a larger wafer size of 156.75 mm.
Differentiation with high-efficiency products is a strategy PV module producers are increasingly turning to in today’s highly competitive solar cell and panel market.
REC is leveraging its relatively high level of vertical integration in production to deploy a larger size wafer in the latest iteration of its TwinPeak Series, the release of which was announced yesterday.
The TwinPeak module incorporates a number of efficiency-boosting cell and module technologies, including half-cut multicrystalline PERC cells, five busbar cell interconnection, and split junction boxes.
In 2015, the combination of these cell and module level innovations was recognized by Intersolar, with the module picking up an Intersolar Photovoltaics Award. REC was honored in 2015 alongside LG, for its NeON panel, in the Photovoltaics category.
With a module efficiency of 17.7%, REC claims that the TwinPeak 2 delivers a 20W boost over competitor multicrystalline modules.
Due to the TwinPeak 2’s design, the module maintains power output when partly shaded, without deploying optimizing hardware. The split junction box design is key to enabling this.
“With a nominal power of up to 295 Wp, the REC TwinPeak 2 further showcases REC’s ability to push the boundaries of the muticrystalline platform and reach panel powers which many industry experts thought impossible with this technology for a 60-cell-size product,” said Cemil Seber, vice president, global marketing and product management at REC, in a statement.
REC operates a highly automated and vertically integrated production facility in Singapore. By moving to a larger wafer format, it can deliver a higher-output module with standard 60-cell configuration and dimensions.
Multicrystalline PERC cells, from a range of manufacturers, have been shown to exhibit light induced degradation (LID) in the past. On some occasions, the LID has largely wiped out the efficiency boost delivered by the backside passivation (the PERC technology).
REC says that its TwinPeak 2 is 100% free of potential induced degradation (PID), even in harsh climatic conditions. With control of manufacturing from ingot, through to wafer, cell and module, REC is well placed to tackle the challenge of multicrystalline PERC LID.
The TwinPeak 72 Series, for utility scale applications, was launched in August 2016. The company suggests that with a higher power output per module, significant reductions in balance of system costs (BoS), such as mounting systems and cabling, more than compensate for the potentially higher per-watt cost on a module basis, when compared with lower-cost producers.
With manufacturing in Singapore, REC claims to be able to have short lead times when shipping to Australia.
