Chinese solar power manufacturer JinkoSolar has announced that it will supply 220,000 of its Tiger Neo bifacial solar modules to the 123MW Verila solar plant in Bulgaria.
The modules are TOPCon N-type cells, and have been shown to demonstrate the resilience and efficiency this technological platform enables. According to JinkoSolar, which is one of nine major module suppliers to make up the Solar Module Super League, the Tiger Neo modules have a conversion efficiency of 23.23% and a temperature coefficient of -0.29% per degree Celsius.
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The project is also notable for its position in the Bulgarian clean energy transition more broadly. Solar power accounts for a small amount of Bulgaria’s total electricity production, with just 1.5GW of capacity installed as of last year, but the investment from one of the world’s leading solar panel manufacturers could encourage greater interest in Bulgarian solar.
The facility itself, which is owned by Eurohold Bulgaria and was built by Suotec and began operations last week, has also achieved a number of milestones. The Verila plant has the largest capacity of any solar project in the country and Eurohold Bulgaria has already signed the largest corporate power purchase agreement in the country, to provide telecoms companies Yettel and Cetin with electricity from the project over the next ten years.
“The Verila project will become not only a Bulgarian benchmark, but also a pan-European one for renewable energy transition,” said Frank Niendorf, general manager of JinkoSolar Europe. “It is one of the largest projects ever built in Europe using TOPCon bifacial modules, and JinkoSolar is very proud to be a part of such an important milestone for our industry.”
The news is the latest in Bulgaria’s growing solar sector. Earlier this year, Rumen Petrov, secretary-general of the Bulgaria Solar Association estimated that 20GW of capacity would be added over the next three years, and Austrian solar firm Enery is planning to begin construction on the 160MW Chirpan facility in the country as early as this year.