Perovskite solar production

Jiangsu Xiehang Energy Technology (Fellow Energy/Xiehang Energy), a holding company of Turkey’s Chen Solar photovoltaic module and smart device manufacturer, has announced its plan to build a perovskite solar cell and module factory in Sichuan Province, China.

Fellow Energy had negotiated with the local government of Dechang County, Sichuan Province, for the construction of the project. It plans to build a solar cell factory to produce 2GW of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells and 5GW of high-efficiency solar modules annually upon completion of the facility.

Reports suggest that a number of renewable-related projects have recently been signed in Shanghai, China, including a 1GW perovskite module factory.

The perovskite solar module factory will be initiated by Wuxi UtmoLight Technology (UtmoLight), a China-based technology development company working towards perovskite commercialization, with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan ( around USD$212,221,000), The new facility will be located in Heze City, Shandong Province.

Researchers from China's Hebei University of Technology have developed a scalable method combining physical thermal field and chemical bonding to fabricate inch-sized FAPbI₃ wafers. By integrating 120 °C hot-pressing to stabilize the photoactive α phase and polyaniline polymer to conduct and passivate the grain boundaries, the team obtained quasi-single crystal FAPbI₃ wafers on a large scale. 

This approach reportedly overcomes the critical challenges of phase impurities and high-density defects, enhancing the phase stability of the FAPbI₃ wafers. 

Sekisui Chemical is reportedly considering acquiring part of Sharp Corp.'s plant in Osaka Prefecture, in order to use the facility to produce perovskite solar cells. The Company plans to commercialize these solar cells in 2025.

It was also said that Japan's industry ministry is likely to subsidize the project as it is expected to contribute to decarbonization.

Prominent U.S solar panel maker, First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), is reportedly building a new research and development (R&D) innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, believed to be the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere - The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation. The new center is part of an approximately half-billion dollar investment by First Solar in R&D infrastructure, and the company expects to also commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio, campus in the second half of 2024. 

The facility covers 1.3 million square feet and includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line allowing for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin film and tandem PV modules. Prior to the commissioning of the Jim Nolan Center, First Solar utilized a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg facility for its late-stage product development efforts. This arrangement limited the flexibility for development efforts and created constraints when mission-critical tools had to go offline. By resolving these limitations and constraints, the new facility is expected to accelerate innovation cycles.

INFICON has almost six decades of thin film experience in maximizing productivity and yield in manufacturing photovoltaic products. Continuous deposition control can be used to maximize reproducibility and uniformity by monitoring and controlling accumulated thickness in-situ and in real time, providing the best measurement resolution that does not require frequent venting. For heterojuntion (HJT) solar cells, perovskite solar cells, and thin film panel manufacturing, INFICON provides market-leading thin film deposition controllers and monitors, including Cygnus® 2.

The Best Measurement Precision Possible

Cygnus 2 is a high-resolution controller capable of controlling six independent rates as low as 0.1 Å/s, typical of advanced solar cell manufacturing processes. This is especially useful in the OLED and solar markets as it eliminates the need for multiple controllers for tools with multiple sources. Instead of having six different deposition controllers for each chamber, one Cygnus 2 can control all six sources independently, simultaneously, or in any combination that is desired to minimize integration cost. 

It was reported that Renshine Solar will open a gigawatt-scale perovskite PV module factory in Jiangsu province, with a planned investment of CNY 1 billion ($138 million). 

The CNY 1 billion gigawatt-scale perovskite cell project will be located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone (ETDZ) in Changshu, Jiangsu province, China. The Company started operating a 150 MW production line for perovskite modules in January. It has since claimed that its commercial modules have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 18.4%.

It was reported that about a week ago, Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material launched the first phase of a photovoltaic energy storage equipment production project was launched, backed by a total investment of Yuan 570 million (over USD$80 million).

The project is undertaken by Kunshan High-Tech Group, which is responsible for the customized construction of a high standard factory area for the 1 GW production project of perovskite photovoltaic modules for enterprises. 

Toray Engineering says that it will ship large size slot-die coaters for an upcoming Gigawatt scale (GW) perovskite production line. The first shipment is scheduled in the second quarter of 2024.

This upcoming production line will be the world’s largest perovskite PV production line, with a glass size of over 2 meters in size. Toray plans to ship multiple large-scale (over 2 meter) slot-die coaters in 2024 for perovskite production.

Toray Engineering’s slot-die coaters have already been used worldwide in perovskite coating processes in several installations. The company reports that market and customer demand is on the rise, and several companies are planning to construct large-area perovskite production lines, with glasses over 2.4 meters in size. Toray Engineering has produced and sold over 800 large-size slot-die coater systems, and is the only company that has successfully produced and shipped large slot-die coaters.

It was reported that solar production equipment maker Maxwell recently held the groundbreaking ceremony for its HJT perovskite tandem cell equipment facility, located in Wujiang District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. 

The company is investing about RMB 5.4 billion ($750.16 million) in the facility focused on research and manufacturing of next-generation HJT perovskite tandem cells. The construction is scheduled to be completed within 2 years.