Chinese solar manufacturer, JA Solar has said it is ramping up production of its P-type monocrystalline solar cells (Percium) to 170MW in 2014, with plans to reach a capacity of 350MW in 2015.
The company’s Percium cells surpassed a conversion efficiency of 20.3% (156×156 mm2), which has been certified by the Fraunhofer ISE's photovoltaic calibration laboratory (CalLab) in Freiburg, Germany.
The Percium-based 60 cell modules reached an average power rating of 285W and are already in volume production according to the company. The preparation for mass production comes three months after the new product was released earlier in the year and the company now expects the module to reach an average power rating of 290W by the end of the year.
Currently, JA Solar operates one Percium solar cell production line but the company expects to have four ready by October this year. The company expects to have eight lines active in 2015, producing 350MW.
JA Solar notes the advantages of extra module power on both increasing opportunities to generate more power for a set area whilst also offering opportunities to decrease the balance of systems. “High conversion efficiency can bring about low system cost per Watt, which means low BOS, transportation, installation and land cost,” said Mr. Yong Liu, chief operation officer of JA Solar.
“The Percium solar cell uses Passivated backside and local BSF technology to ensure excellent low-light performance of PERCIUM cells module. High cost performance on the system side can help to reduce the cost of power per kWh.”