Intersolar Europe 2025, held this week in Munich, Germany, continues to be a major gathering in the solar industry, bringing together global attendees and showcasing a variety of new products from PV companies.
Solar manufacturers Aiko Solar and Canadian Solar showcased their latest modules, while 7Secondsolar, LONGi Solar and Weidmüller won in the Photovoltaics (PV) category at this year’s The smarter E Award.
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7Secondsolar, Longi Solar, and Weidmüller win The smarter E AWARD for PV innovation
A key highlight of the event was The smarter E AWARD, presented by The smarter E Europe – an alliance of energy industry exhibitions across the continent. The award was given across five categories: PV, Energy Storage, E-Mobility, Smart Integrated Energy, and Outstanding Projects, recognising innovation and excellence driving the energy transition. Three winners were named in each category, underscoring the breadth of innovation shaping the energy transition.
In the Photovoltaics category, solar PV software company 7Secondsolar won the award for its cloud-based AUTOPV tool, which automates the planning of large-scale solar installations. According to the firm, the software significantly cuts project design time by up to 50% by generating optimised layouts, cable routing, and system components, while allowing real-time comparison of different design options. With built-in features like technical documentation, computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, and yield calculations, AUTOPV reduces planning times by up to 50% and has been used for large-scale PV installations with a total capacity of 1.8GW and more.
Solar PV manufacturer LONGi Solar Technology also won the award for its Hi-MO X10 module, which delivers 670 watts of power and 24.8% efficiency. Featuring back contact cell design, along with LONGi’s TaiRay wafers the module cuts shading losses by up to 70%, improving safety with reduced hotspot risk.
The third winner under the category was functional electronics-focused Weidmüller Interface. The firm won the award for PV Inline; a compact surge protection device designed for space-constrained PV installations. Certified to protection class IP65 and available in SPD Type 1 and 2, PV Inline includes ready-to-use cables and MC4 connectors, offering rooftop overvoltage protection. It can be mounted on internal or external walls, within standard cable ducts, or behind PV modules.
Canadian Solar showcases TOPCon 2.0 modules at Intersolar Europe
PV manufacturer Canadian Solar has launched a high-power solar panel at the Intersolar Europe event in Munich.
The TOPBiHiKu6 series, including the CS6.2-66TB model, is built using advanced tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell technology, achieving conversion efficiencies of up to 24.4%. It can produce up to 660W of electricity per panel.
According to the firm, these panels use thinner wiring to reduce shading and capture more sunlight, while improving the firing process for better electricity flow. Letting panels absorb up to 90% of light from both sides, the rear design boosts bifaciality, thus cutting system costs by around 2%.
Compared to its predecessors, the TOPCon 2.0 panels reduce the overall levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) by up to 5%, making it a more efficient and cost-effective choice for large-scale solar projects.
The Guelph, Canada-based company expects to commercially launch the product in August 2025. Sharing this, Thomas Koerner, corporate senior vice president of Canadian Solar, called it a “major step forward in efficiency, sustainability, and cost savings.”
Aiko launches AI-powered ABC module
Clean energy technology company Aiko Solar has showcased its new solar tech, NAVIGATOR Intelligent Module, that uses real-time data intelligence.
According to the firm, the module builds on the company’s N-Type All Back-Contact (ABC) technology and will increase energy yield up to 5% more annually through a smarter monitoring system. NAVIGATOR features an “intelligent” junction box that uses power line communication (PLC) to transmit real-time performance data via existing DC cables.
This enables module-level monitoring without extra wiring, giving operators early fault detection, AI-powered diagnostics, and faster maintenance.
The Chinese firm estimates that in a 10MW plant, NAVIGATOR could recover up to 300,000kWh of otherwise lost power annually. The system will drastically reduce operations and maintenance (O&M) time, and a task that once needed ten people over three days could be done by one person in under an hour, the firm claims.
With AI capabilities, NAVIGATOR provides a low-barrier entry to intelligent asset management to efficiently operate solar projects.
