When it comes to the solar panel technology space, there’s honestly not a lot to talk about. Everyone seems fairly comfortable in the PERC and TOPCon camps, making sure they have a panel for every market. Every panel manufacturer booth at the RE+ tradeshow seemed to have at least one bifacial panel, one “smaller” module for the residential market, and big panels for utility-scale (somehow) using both M10 and G12 cell designs. Much of the talk at the show this year was about domestic manufacturing and policy changes, but I was able to find a few exciting developments in the technology space.
Bila Solar
Bila Solar first announced its intentions to build a gigawatt-scale manufacturing factory in Indianapolis last year, and the company brought its first glassless, frameless silicon solar panel design to RE+ 2023. That first-gen panel — only 17 lbs and mostly consisting of layers of EVA — would attach to commercial rooftops via adhesive, and Bila is still fine tuning that design for America’s varying rooftops. Now the company is developing Version 2 of the panel, just in time for the December startup of its domestic manufacturing site. This panel features a composite “substructure” on its underside that acts like a frame so Bila-designed clamps can attach to rails or to mounts on standing-seam metal roofs. This only pushes the panel’s weight to 25 lbs, still making it a great option for weight-concerned roofs but providing more options for how its installed.
Silfab
Silfab aims to start solar cell manufacturing at its new South Carolina plant early next year, and one of its first domestic designs will be the highly anticipated Elite module. A conductive backsheet pairs with back-contact solar cells with strategically placed connecting points. The completely black panel, with no busbars, would make for a very aesthetically pleasing choice for residential customers, but the unique cell design has to come first. The Dept. of Energy is interested in this tech — the government awarded $5 million to Silfab to develop the back-contact cells at the new manufacturing site in South Carolina. Silfab is working on the backsheet design with SunFlex, another DOE grantee that started at Arizona State University. IBC designs are likely the next-best step beyond TOPCon, so Silfab could be well on its way to the next groundbreaking development in the solar panel space.
Trina Solar
A few solar panel companies have been working to improve the hail resistance of their bifacial designs, and many have found that simply increasing the thickness of the front-glass from 2 mm to 3.2 mm does the trick quite well. But that 1.2-mm jump in glass thickness adds a not-insignificant amount of weight to the panel. So instead of only offering dual-glass bifacial designs, Trina Solar developed a version of its Vertex N product to have the thicker front-glass but a clear backsheet. The bifaciality still works, and the lighter weight helps out installers and the structural integrity of the module itself, which in turn helps provide strength in hail storms. Trina found that its 3.2-mm/backsheet modules could withstand larger hailstone sizes at more tilt angles than its 2-mm dual-glass modules. It’s an interesting design consideration since more solar is being installed in more temperamental areas as climate change affects weather patterns.
Imperial Star Solar
I’m a nerd for good product illustrations, so I just wanted to make sure everyone saw this deconstructed solar panel from Imperial Star Solar. Solar panels are sandwiches of cool tech, and I hope to see more advances in this area very soon.