Module manufacturer Risen released three new modules at its 2019 Annual Supplier Meeting, including the world’s first 500W efficiency module featuring 210mm wafers.

Yafeng Liu, senior R&D director of Risen, presented a detailed analysis of process features, power efficiency scheme and end-customer benefits of the three new products at an event held last week.

Among them, Risen’s HJT module is the only half-cut HJT product within the PV industry. Featuring low temperature coefficient, high bifacial ratio, high reliability and high-power output, the HJT module, with efficiency ranging between 20.8% and 21.9%, can generate much power under low light conditions, thus enabling lower levelised cost of energy.

It is known that Risen’s HJT cell efficiency already topped 24% and the company had received 30MW of module orders. HJT capacity is expected to reach 500MW in 2020.

Risen also released a 500W efficiency module, which is made up of 50 half-cut M12 (210mm) mono wafers. Efficiency of this module reaches 20.2%.

Risen said the adoption of M12 mono wafer had offered excellent cost advantages for the 500W efficiency module, evidenced by 30% capacity lift, 6% LCOE drop and 9.6% BOS cost drop.

According to Risen, M12 is 80.5% larger than M2. Once this new product is used, the mainstream efficiency of 6×10 half-cut module could reach 600W. This new module’s efficiency could reach as high as 625W when N-type technology is applied simultaneously.

In recent years, the pressure of PV grid parity had propelled module efficiency to rise and wafer to get larger. The significance of developing large wafer lies in cost reduction for both downstream cell fab and module suppliers. Joint efforts running through the upstream and downstream industrial chain contribute to cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Yafeng Liu said in the meeting, “Risen has been committed to R&D of low-cost efficiency products. Our cooperation with Huan ou International on M12 wafer will strongly support efficiency module production in 2020.

“No one in the industry has ever launched 500W module before. Risen is the first one to do so. Based on M12 wafer technology and other process technologies, we will develop and ramp efficiency products to meet market demands. It is our target to ship in volume in the second quarter of 2020,” Liu said.

Risen had signed strategic cooperation agreements with many suppliers in the meeting, including Huan ou International, CNBM(YIXING)New Energy, Flatgroup, Arctech Solar and Huawei.

Risen also released a 440W HJT glass-glass half-cut single module and a 450W half-cut MBB module.