n-type

During the period 2006 to 2011, equipment spending for solar manufacturing was a really big deal for capital equipment suppliers. Companies such as GT Advanced Technologies (then GT Solar) and Applied Materials (serving thin-film and c-Si expansions alike) were clocking up billion-dollar plus backlogs.

Asia-based EVA encapsulant material producer HIUV New Materials said it successfully developed an encapsulant for N-type cell based PV modules that limits PID (Potential Induced Degradation).

US-based high-technology equipment manufacturer Intevac said it had secured an order for two ‘ENERGi’ ion implant systems from a China-based solar cell producer for precision emitter solar cell manufacturing. Financial details and delivery schedules were not disclosed.

Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Trina Solar said it had achieved a new world record for a large-area Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cell.

High-technology equipment manufacturer Intevac said it was tracking around 5GW of high efficiency n-type monocrystalline solar cell capacity expansions that are expected through 2020, providing a market opportunity for its ‘MATRIX’ platform of around US$175 million.

The PV industry has notched up another year of strong growth in 2015, with more in prospect for 2016. The PV Tech team looks back at the big stories that have defined the past 12 months in solar.

Leading cell technologists from all of the big-six Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) suppliers (Canadian Solar, Hanwha Q-Cells, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, Trina Solar and Yingli Green) have now been confirmed as speakers at PV Tech’s inaugural solar cell conference, PVCellTech, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 16-17 March 2016.