Silicon solar panels make a comeback: they outperform perovskite panels
Aiko, a developer and innovator of photovoltaic components, has unveiled the world’s most efficient solar panels, dubbed Comet 3N72e, from its New Infinite series, which has stood out for its performance.
This revolutionary solar panel represents a way for China to humble those of us who thought that perovskite-based panels were the future. They have proven that N-type photovoltaic panels are still an excellent choice.
A new model of N-type solar panel: Goodbye to perovskite with this unprecedented material
This component has dimensions of 2,278 x 1,134 x 30 mm. Because it has a mono-glass design with a smaller aluminum frame and a single 3.2 mm thick layer of tempered glass, it weighs just under 30 kg. It includes a total of 144 photovoltaic cells.
These innovative solar panels, which are the flagship of the New Infinite series, are capable of delivering 650 watts of power. Its N-type photovoltaic cells are the highest efficiency cells on the market today, with 25.2% conversion of sunlight into electricity.
Aiko reports that its high efficiency is the result of moving the copper busbars to the back of the panel. Previously they were distributed between the front and the center. This change reduces the benefits of bifaciality, but decreases shading on the cells.
This module, which is larger than its peers, has an estimated minimum annual degradation of 1% during the initial year and 0.35% after the second year. Therefore, it gives a performance guarantee of 30 years, projecting that at the end its capacity will be 88.85 %.
Its working temperature ranges from -40 to 85 °C, with a product warranty of 15 years, which is longer than that of existing solar panels on the market. It also has an IP68 certification for physical resistance against hail and other weather events.
With this article, China is moving forward without any fear that its supremacy in the sale of solar panels will be compromised. Especially because of the perovskite photovoltaic cells offered by the Japanese industry, which would take at least five years to be manufactured at scale.
Technologies available on the solar panel market: A new generation of photovoltaics is being developed
The battle of solar panel technologies has reached its peak in the last decade. N-type technology, which is the one we are now discussing, has been redesigned to use phosphor-doped silicon as the main component of its cells.
This feature uses electrons as the majority carrier, which decreases its degradation and, at the same time, greatly increases its efficiency up to 25.2%. Heterojunction technology, or HJT, is a mixture of thin-film materials with crystalline silicon.
This allows the formation of a heterojunction that enables a conversion efficiency of up to 24.16 % at high temperatures. Finally, there are perovskite panels, which is the most promising technology where silicon is substituted, having an efficiency in the laboratory of over 26 %.
In addition, its manufacturing cost is the lowest of all technologies. But it has some drawbacks to be solved for its commercialization, especially the one referred to its stability at the level of photovoltaic cells.
In conclusion, these new solar panels, which would be launched during the fourth quarter of 2024, are a great solution for the installation of solar systems, since they are economical and high performance.