Backing back contact
While most manufacturers embrace tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar for higher efficiency, Aiko Solar is developing all-back-contact (ABC) technology, as the company’s director of products, Cris Lu, told pv magazine at the PV Expo Japan trade show.
Shining a light on advanced solar cell testing
Halm, an inline testing equipment supplier, is preparing to launch a new tool that will use LEDs, rather than xenon tubes, as a light source. Managing Director Moritz Meixner says that while he still sees xenon as the best tool for today’s rapidly expanding PV manufacturing industry, new technologies on the horizon could soon necessitate a rethink.
The cells of the future
The annual SiliconPV Conference came to TU Delft in the Netherlands in April, and offered an important health check for the science and technology behind solar energy. pv magazine was on site to hear the latest from researchers reaching for higher efficiency through tandem cells and other innovations; looking to understand and mitigate cell degradation mechanisms; and working to cut down solar technology’s consumption of rare and expensive materials.
pv magazine test: March 2023 results
We look at the March 2023 energy yield results from the outdoor test field in Xi’an, China, with additional analysis from George Touloupas, senior director of technology and quality at Clean Energy Associates.
What does it all mean?
Solar companies are keen to stress their sustainability chops but with measurement metrics varying wildly, forced labor concerns, an “anti-woke” political storm brewing in the US, and doubts about what environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards even mean, working out the green credentials of companies can be a minefield, says Tristan Rayner.
Taking the Longi view
Chinese PV giant Longi has made impressive strides in its efforts to green its production operations, as Sandra Valverde, the company’s senior manager for marketing, tells pv magazine.
Low-carbon verified
The Global Electronics Council (GEC) has stepped up its EPEAT ecolabel – which formerly stood for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool – to recognize solar panels made with low-carbon electricity and provide independent verification of embedded carbon, as the organization’s newly appointed CEO Bob Mitchell explains.
Final thought: Onwards and upwards
By Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar.
