EU: PVSEC Kicks Off with a Number of Innovative Products

The exhibition is primarily focused toward the technical aspects of the global solar industry, particularly the cost-effective innovative products

The 27^th EU PVSEC exhibition has been ongoing in Frankfurt, Germany, from 24^th September and will conclude on 28^th. The four-day trade show, which attracts all the leading players from the global solar industry as well as the scientific community, also hosted 12 parallel events including the “Europe – Asia PV forum.” This year, the event will attract more than 4,000 delegates and 30,000 visitors and features 652 exhibits, 1300 presentations and 337 keynote addresses.

The exhibition is primarily focused toward the technical aspects of the global solar industry, particularly the cost-effective innovative products. The Germany-based Schmid Group announced that it has achieved 20.74% efficiency for PERC cells in an industrial scale production process by using its APCVD machine, which is on display at the exhibition. On the other hand, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) has announced that it has achieved 21.1% solar cell efficiency by using RENA GmbH’s InClean technology and Merck KGaA’s isishape paste. RENA has itself demonstrated, along with imec and SoLayTec, a new technique using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) passivation with 156mm x156mm i-PERC-type c-Si cell that can result in 19.6% cell efficiency. Dr. Aude Rothschild, from imec’s PV unit, said, “The excellent passivation level obtained with the technology allows for even higher efficiencies so that further improvement of solar cell performance is expected in the near future. We are aiming at +20% efficiency in the coming months.”

The event is also featuring the Switzerland-based Meyer Burger Technologies Ltd, which has developed a 303W solar module using only 60 Cz-Si pseudo square cells. The business is planning to touch record module efficiency of 24% and reduce the production cost to $0.10 per Wp by 2014 using Heterojunction technology.  

Hanwha SolarOne Co Ltd (NASDAQ: HSOL), along with its partners, is also introducing three new prototype products. Its new energy storage system SunBank can be used for residential as well as industrial and commercial applications and can be integrated with utility grids. Unlike other on-grid storage systems, SunBank can ensure uninterrupted power supply during a power outage. The Hanwha Solar OptiMax Wave rooftop system can produce 30% more energy per rated watt by using 3M (NYSE: MMM)’s Cool Mirror Film that enhances irradiance by 1.58 times.  Furthermore, Hanwha has also displayed for the first time Epi Thin-Silicon Technology Concept Modules that were produced by its patented direct gas-to-module process, which offers 50% cost reductions as compared to the conventional wafer process.

In some good news for the solar industry, Bernreuter Research has presented a report at the exhibition which states that the polysilicon industry will start recovering from 2014-15, as the oversupply has finally started diminishing. The research institute has also studied 10 polysilicon production processes and has predicted that only monosilane-based technologies has shown promise to rival the prevalent Siemens process.