It’s not often that one looks at the early years of the solar industry with nostalgia, but it was at least a time that had some consistency in solar panel sizes. It was generally understood that 60-cell solar panels were made for the residential market, while 72-cell panels were used in commercial and utility-scale applications. The larger solar panels had two extra rows of cells, making them longer and more powerful for bigger projects.
Seraphim company SEG Solar displayed the two differing wafer sizes at the RE+ tradeshow in 2022. The 675-W panel on the left uses the largest 210-mm wafer size, while the 455-W module on the right uses 182-mm.
Now, the global market has moved to larger cell sizes, which has in turn increased the size of solar panels. That wouldn’t be an issue if each company used the same-size cell, but the industry has split into two main cell-size camps that lead to inconsistencies in final module sizes — one company’s 72-cell panel is not the same size as another’s if cell sizes differ by 30 millimeters.
The two new main wafer sizes that have dominated the market are the M10 (182-mm) and G12 (210-mm). LONGi Solar is the leading M10 wafer supplier, and JinkoSolar, JA Solar and Qcells have signed on to the 182-mm camp. Chinese silicon wafer supplier Zhonghuan Semiconductor is championing the larger G12 size, and supporters of the 210-mm wafer include Trina Solar, REC and Maxeon.
The industry’s new sizes are influencing how panel companies market their models, said Thomas Koerner, corporate VP of global sales for modules with Canadian Solar, a manufacturer that is using both of the larger wafer sizes.
“Our naming convention has moved away from using terms like ‘72-cell panels.’ We refer to them by power class,” he said. “Our customers use the power class and size/efficiency when ordering.”
While no longer confined to standard sizing, companies do still follow certain guidelines. For example, solar panels used primarily in the residential market are influenced by labor and weight limitations in the United States, Koerner noted. But customers make the final decision on the optimal type of solar panel for each project.
“We are agnostic with our residential and utility-scale modules. If residential customers want to use larger-format modules, we are technically capable to design and make [them] available,” Koerner said. “We define our sizes to work best for our customers for optimum power, efficiency and reliability.”
Credit: ITRPV
The International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV) report already reveals the bigger M10 and G12 wafers holding over 50% of the market and expects the 2 largest wafers to be the one dimension choices by 2032, with, in fact, the chance to go even greater.
Though product names and dimensions are altering, software program makes designing initiatives simple for installers turning to greater photo voltaic panels. Aurora Photo voltaic’s 3D format software can deal with any-size module, and CEO Chris Hopper mentioned the corporate pulls module dimensions and electrical specs from information sheets all year long. The software program handles the remainder.
“Installers can make the most of the worldwide element libraries in each Aurora and HelioScope, the place a number of thousand (1,700 and a couple of,400, respectively) modules have been added within the final yr alone,” he mentioned. “There’s no must manually import dozens of parameters, and if we don’t have the module in our database, our groups will add it for you.”
Greater modules are right here to remain, and trade gamers are making the transition easy for set up crews.
This story is a part of SPW’s 2023 Tendencies in Photo voltaic. Learn all of this yr’s traits right here.
