MegaCell is an innovative Italian-based photovoltaic bi-facial high-efficiency cell and module manufacturer, part of Mega Group, which was recently established by Franco Traverso. Traverso is considered a pioneer of the Italian photovoltaic cells technology, given his extended experience of more than 30 years in photovoltaic (PV) sector since 1981, when he founded his first company ‘Helios Technology’ (sold in 2008).
Last April, just one month after the start of the high-efficiency BiSoN bi-facial N-Type monocrystalline silicon solar cells production, MegaCell announced a 20% front side cell efficiency. Now, only a few months later, the Italian MegaGroup’s Company has reached a cell efficiency of more than 21% on the front side, at the top of world performances, and a bifaciality factor of 90%. Considering a 20% back side contribution, the overall bifacial cell efficiency becomes of 25%.
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This achievement, thanks to MegaCell’s team, is particularly important also because it was obtained not in laboratory but in the production industrial process.
This new generation BiSoN cell has more than 5,17 W on the front side and 4 bus-bar instead of 3. This allows producing today bi-facial modules with higher power and reduced loss.
Made of 60 BiSoN bi-facial cells, the BiSoN modules have more than 300 Wp on the front side and 270 on the back one. Considering an average back contribution of 20%, the bi-facial module (front+back side) performs 375 We (Watt equivalent), without other module components cost increase.
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Besides, the new glass-glass technology ensures 50 years module life, with a significant increase of overall produced energy.
High efficiency, joined with bifaciality, allows reducing the PV system size with consequent cost saving in facilities, cables, labor and occupied area.
These achievements aid in the move toward PV kWh cost reduction that makes solar energy more competitive with fossil fuels in many areas of the world. In the sunniest ones, is today possible to reach $35-40/Mwh. This is what MegaEngineering, MegaGroup’s Company, is going to demonstrate with the world biggest bifacial solar plant – 2,5 MW – that is being built in Chile.
Along with these innovations, MegaCell production in Italy has proceeded according with the ramp-up plan: the start-up phase is now over and the 80 MW/year production capacity has already been reached.
— Solar Builder magazine
[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/megacell-25-percent-bifacial-efficiency-solar-cell/]
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