REC targets rooftop market with new module

The new features cited by the company include 120 half-cut multicrystalline cells, four busbars, passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology and a split junction box.

Splitting the junction box into three separate units enables a new layout of the TwinPeak Series, REC said, while also reducing heat build-up and bolstering panel reliability.

The half-cut cells, manufactured by laser cutting standard cells in half, reduce resistive losses and allow a higher fill factor, while the PERC architecture improves the light absorption of the cell, boosting overall performance. The addition of a fourth bus bar increases the flow of current, improving efficiency and reliability, REC claimed.

“The new REC TwinPeak Series represents the latest example of our drive to continuously improve our technology and product offering,” said Cemil Seber, director of product marketing and global expansion of REC.

“Our new product offers a cutting-edge solution on a polysilicon platform that can strongly compete with monocrystalline solar panels on efficiency and performance, which are essential to the rooftop solar markets.”

In reference to its decision to target the market, REC cited figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasting that 1 terawatt of rooftop solar capacity will be added by 2030.

REC expects most demand to come from Europe and the US, with GTM Research projecting double-digit growth in the commercial and residential segments. It identified the UK, Germany and Singapore among other promising markets. In Germany particularly it said there was “notable potential” for self-consumption installations.

Full production and initial shipments of the panels will begin in the first quarter of 2015.