Top 10 new product reviews of 2009

Top 10 new product reviews of 2009

Unlike news stories, which generally have a short lifespan, but higher visitor levels, new product reviews can often prove popular for several months or more. Excluding the PV-Tech homepage, the Product Briefings section is the fourth most visited section of the site in 2009.  In collating the Top 10 new product reviews of 2009, many product reviews in particular stood out for having an extremely long shelf life that with some started in 2008 yet continued to attract readers throughout the year.

Mitsubishi’s new multicrystalline cell technology captured the honour for the most page-views and was a clear winner in the traffic stakes with nearly double that of second placed Silicon Genesis and its ‘Kerf-free’ wafer maker.

In third place we have First Solar’s FS Series 2 PV modules, not surprising considering the company’s popularity with readers in general and the fact we posted this review at the beginning of the year.

However, a close fourth was Siemens with its Sinvert PV inverters, which was only reviewed in September and had a very high initial page-view count.

In sixth position and part of the only ‘theme’ running through the list was Honeywell’s PowerShield PV325 backsheet material, closely followed by another backsheet producer in the form of Coveme. Remarkably, both products have continued to attract readers since their posting in 2008 and Honeywell’s PowerShield material gets special mention as it was second most read product of 2008!

Another long-standing product in 2009 comes from Reis Robotics, which launched its fully automated solar cell soldering technology.

Another robotics firm, this time KUKA Systems, took eighth place with its full service thin film automation solutions. In ninth position was the CupCellPlate system from RENA, which has retained interest since posting in May, 2009.

At number ten is Schmid’s inSECT technology that simplifies selective emitter cell processing and a clear favourite technology for boosting cell efficiencies in 2010.


1.    New Product: Mitsubishi Electric boosts multicrystalline cell efficiency to 18.9%
2.    New Product: Silicon Genesis produces 150um ‘Kerf-free’ PV wafers
3.    New Product: First Solar’s FS Series 2 PV modules are specifically designed for power plants
4.    New Product: SINVERT PV inverters from Siemens offer field-proven performance and reliability
5.    New Product: Honeywell’s PowerShield PV325 backsheet protects PV modules from harsh conditions
6.    New Product: Coveme backsheet has a 5x lifetime extension
7.    New Product: Reis Robotics develops fully-automatic laser soldering procedure
8.    New Product: KUKA Systems offers full service automation solutions for thin film production
9.    New Product: The CupCellPlate system from RENA enables fine line
10.  New Product: Schmid’s inSECT technology simplifies selective emitter processing and reduces costs