German solar wafer manufacturer NexWafe and US-based cell producer Talon PV have signed a wafer supply agreement in the US.
Under the agreement, NexWafe will supply nearly 7GW of advanced wafers to support Talon PV’s 4.8GW tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell manufacturing plant in Baytown, Texas. Talon PV spoke with PV Tech Premium last October about its plan to build a TOPCon solar cell processing plant and the challenges it faces, especially in an environment where many industry manufacturers have sued each other over patent disputes in the past couple of years.
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The agreement would see NexWafe supplying its proprietary wafers from its pilot-scale operation in Bitterfeld, Germany. Over time, the collaboration could pave the way for future multi-gigawatt manufacturing expansion in the US through partnerships with established industry players, NexWafe said.
In addition to the supply agreement, both companies aim to collaborate on technical development and qualification efforts to further improve TOPCon cell performance using NexWafe’s proprietary direct gas-to-wafer manufacturing method, known as EpiNex.
The partnership will focus on advanced wafer material quality, ultra-low oxygen content and next-generation junction engineering approaches to enable higher efficiency and long-term reliability in N-type solar cells.
This agreement with Talon PV represents an important step toward building a next-generation wafer-to-cell ecosystem spanning Germany and the US,” said Davor Sutija, PhD, CEO of NexWafe.
“NexWafe is committed to enabling high-efficiency solar manufacturing through advanced substrates, and we look forward to working with Talon to qualify EpiNex wafers and further push the performance frontier for TOPCon solar cells.”
Although based in the US and building a solar cell manufacturing plant in the state of Texas, Talon PV has recently partnered with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) to establish a TOPCon pilot line in Freiburg, Germany, where NexWafe is based. Similarly, NexWafe’s initial EpiNex wafer qualification work will be conducted at Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg.
The partnership is subject to the execution of definitive long-term supply documentation and the completion of customary technical qualification and investment conditions.
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