SNEC ROUND-UP: 600W+ panels, integrated storage and decarbonisation

Jolywood unveils new 615W bifacial module

N-type module manufacturer Jolywood unveiled three new additions to its flagship Niwa brand of modules at SNEC 2020, including a 615W high-efficiency bifacial product.

The Niwa brand of module comes in both 570W and 615W versions, with the Niwa Super, Niwa Pro and Niwa Black all featuring at the trade show last weekend.

All three products use Jolywood’s latest generation NTOPCon cell technology and boast a module effiency of 22.1%.

Jolywood debuted the Niwa brand at last year’s SNEC exhibition, but took to the show floor this year to unveil its second generation products. Zhifeng Liu, deputy general manager at Jolywood, said the new generation had made “significant improvements” in both cell efficiency and module technology compared to last year’s version.

“Our second-generation Niwa products have the core advantages of ‘three highs and three lows‘, namely high efficiency, high bifaciality, high reliability, low degradation, and no LID /LeTID, low temperature coefficient,“ he said.

Sungrow shows off 1500V LFP storage solution

Inverter supplier Sungrow debuted its latest 1500V lithium iron phosphate (LFP) lithium-ion energy storage solution at the trade show.

Sungrow said its range of products in the field allow for system capacities from 1MW to 6.9MW alongside LFP batteries rated at 1500V which can be assembled to produce an integrated system of up to 4.5MWh, which Sungrow said was suitable for both commercial and utility-scale installs.

The product is flexible for both DC- and AC-coupled designs and allows for the creation of all-in-one systems capable of providing services such as frequency regulation, peak shaving and ancillary services.

Sungrow said the future of solar in a post-grid-parity era was for the technology to be “deeply integrated” with energy storage for grid stability.

“The integration of PV and energy storage relies on deep analysis and integration of the whole system instead of a mechanical combination of two systems,“ Jack Gu, senior VP at Sungrow, said.

Solar companies launch RE100 China Initiative

A host of solar companies used the SNEC exhibition to launch the RE100 China Initiative, tying in with major companies unveiling plans to derive 100% of their power from renewables.

LONGi Group, which is to source all of their power from renewables by 2028, launched the RE100 China Initiative alongside Sungrow Power, Envision, Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), and PV Committee of China Green Supply Chain Alliance (ECOPV).

LONGi president Li Zhenguo said the launch of such programmes was intended to promote  the transition of China's energy sector to a “clean and low-carbon future” and help resolve climate change issues and global energy crisis.

It’s intended that with renewables manufacturers and trade associations setting such targets, they will set examples for other companies in China to follow.

JinkoSolar also unveiled its pledge to derive 100% of its power from renewables last week.

Yingli hails ‘new vision’ as it pens new strategic agreements

Yingli Solar said it had a “new starting point and new vision” for the company at SNEC 2020 as it signed a new of strategic partnerships at the event.

Yingli signed strategic partnerships with China Development Bank Energy Co, New Energy Sources Co, China Power Engineering Consulting Group and Hangzhou First Applied Material in a bid to “jointly promote the development of the photovoltaic industry”, the company said.

The partnerships are intended to see the parties collaborate on R&D in the materials and technologies fields, as well as in the development of new built assets.

Yingli also highlighted its N-type PANDA bifacial module at the event, which claims to have bifaciality coefficiency of 82% with a front-side power output of 425W, using TOPCON cell technology.