In the past 40 years, HJT battery technology has entered the commercialization stage from research and development to promotion, along with the iteration of technology and the improvement of conversion efficiency.
A few days ago, China's Risen Energy is aggressively expanding its production line of heterojunction (HJT) high-efficiency cell modules. The company currently has a 500MW HJT pilot line.
REC Group, an integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic modules, has launched the latest module product-Alpha Pure-R residential heterojunction modules, which are designed with HJT cells and G12 large-scale modules, and will provide three output powers of 410Wp, 420Wp and 430Wp. Jan Enno Bicker, CEO of REC Group, said that future R&D efforts will be entirely focused on heterojunction technology.
On May 16, China Huasheng New Energy Himalaya 210 series of high-efficiency microcrystalline HJT modules have successfully obtained TüV certification. With the smooth production of the first batch of cells and modules for the 2GW high-efficiency microcrystalline heterojunction project, Huasheng will further Accelerate the pace of production expansion and continue to build a 4.8GW double-sided microcrystalline heterojunction smart factory project.
So what is the reason for the non-stop expansion of heterojunction projects by major domestic and foreign companies? What are the advantages of HJT batteries?
The full name of the HJT cell is the intrinsic thin film heterojunction cell, which is also based on the photovoltaic effect, except that the P-N junction is formed of amorphous silicon (a-Si) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) materials.
In terms of new battery technology, HJT battery has the characteristics of high conversion efficiency, high bifacial ratio and good temperature characteristics due to its unique double-sided symmetrical structure and excellent passivation effect of amorphous silicon layer. The HJT battery can not only use thin silicon wafers, but also superimpose perovskite, and its manufacturing process is short, and there is room for future cost reductions.
Compared with PERC batteries, HJT batteries have higher requirements on cleanliness during the preparation process, and require a higher degree of cleanliness for equipment and workshops, so they are not compatible with traditional battery production workshops. Overall, HJT cell production equipment is not compatible with monocrystalline PERC cell production, nor is it compatible with other N-type cell equipment such as TOPCon and IBC.
From the perspective of the owner of the photovoltaic power station, after applying the HJT technology, the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells has increased from 22.3% to 24%, and the annual power generation of the power station with the same area can be increased by about 7.6%. In the future, when HJT cells are replaced by PERC cells, higher-power modules can be produced, thereby saving investors more cost per watt and cost per kilowatt-hour.
At present, many companies in China are actively promoting the industrialization of HJT cells. The highest laboratory conversion efficiency of M2 cells has exceeded 25%, and the leading mass production conversion efficiency is between 23.5% and 24%.
The global HJT battery production capacity is close to 3GW, and the current planned production capacity of the main players has exceeded 16GW. It can be seen from the above data that the HJT industry has long-term investment value.
As a next-generation cell technology, HJT technology has many advantages such as high open circuit voltage and low temperature coefficient, and has a stable long-term development trend.