Major solar PV materials firm Heraeus Photovoltaics has teamed with PV ribbon manufacturer Ulbrich Solar Technologies to produce a new line of Heraeus’ patented advanced ‘Selectively Coated Ribbons’ (SCR) for module manufacturing customers.
PV ribbon is the standard product to interconnect solar cells into a string to form the module. Heraeus’ SCR technology is claimed to be a breakthrough in conventional ribbon use, due the ribbon designed with stripes of highly-reflective white coating running along its edges, with the solder coating material in the middle section.
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This is said to provide a power gain of up to 2.2 Watts at the module level, including compatibility with half-cut cells. TCT 400 reliability tests were passed and 240 kWh/m² UV-DH testing were also passed, according to the company.
Dr. Weiming Zhang, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics said, “Solutions like our Selectively Coated Ribbons are another example of why we invest so heavily into R&D. This partnership with Ulbrich will help us bring this innovation to market quickly so the industry can continue to make solar the most efficient and important renewable energy source.”
Peter Berghofer, the General Manager of Ulbrich added, “New products for module manufacturing need to meet demanding requirements and must be cost competitive, innovative and reliable. The new SCR fulfils those expectations by increasing the power of every single module without any investment or additional effort for the module manufacturers. We expect this product to be a real game changer in module manufacturing.”
Ulbrich is expected to initially sell its Selectively Coated Ribbons in Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East, Mexico and the United States.
Heraeus noted that Ulbrich would be starting sampling to key customers in September 2018, with several hundred megawatts of module manufacturing projected to be supported by 2019.
