At the PV Module Tech Conference on March 11, 2021, Trina Solar officially unveiled a new generation of ultra-high power Vertex module with a single panel power of 670W. The series has obtained the IEC certification from the TÜV Rheinland after passing complete reliability test, and realized the mass production.
According to Dr. Zhang Yingbin, Trina Solar’s head of product strategy and marketing department, the 670W Vertex series inherits the non-destructive cutting, high-density interconnection and other high-precision technologies of the 210mm modules; with the ultra-high module power, the single string power gets 34% higher than that of other 500W+ modules in the industry. In addition, 670W Vertex modules maximize the container space utilization in transportation, as a result of which the 12% up in the loading power and 5 – 7% down in the installation cost, creating more room for reduction of the LCOE and BOS cost.
The 670W Vertex modules inherit the four 210mm key technologies
As a type of 210mm module, Trina Solar’s 670W Vertex bears non-destructive cutting, high-density interconnection, multi-busbar (MBB) and other forward-looking innovative technologies, with low voltage, high string power and other core features, presenting efficient and reliable product performance. The MBB and high-density interconnection improve the module efficiency to up to 21.6%, while the non-destructive cutting pioneered by Trina Solar significantly reduces the risks of cell micro crack and power loss.
This means 34% higher power generation
Increasing in power of the single string is the core factor to reduce the BOS cost. At the launch of the 670W Vertex, Dr. Zhang Yingbin explained that in large-scale power plants (-20℃), the 670W Vertex has 28 modules on each string. Compared to other 500W+ high-power modules in the industry, the 670W Vertex module achieves a total power increase of up to 18,760W per string, 34% higher than that of the 500W+ modules.
670W Vertex module is suitable for large-scale power plants, especially the low-cost power plants which are very sensitive to investment costs, because the 670W modules can reduce the non-silicon cost of silicon wafers and cells for the upstream supply chain, and reduce the cost of trackers, pile foundations, cables and labor for the downstream. Compared to other 500W+ modules in the industry, BOS cost savings are at least 0.08-0.09 yuan per watt, hence with a significant overall advantage.
Complete reliability test shows 12% falls in transportation cost and 5-7% falls in installation cost
Packaging & Transportation
For 600W+ series products, Trina Solar innovated the packaging method to vertical placement, so that the width of the modules is no longer limited by the height of the container. Such packaging makes the best use of the container’s internal capacity. Compared with the traditional ways, the loading power increases by 12%, which introduces a 12% cost reduction in transportation. In terms of safety, first of all, the factory packaging is completed by automatic equipment to ensure safety and efficiency; secondly, in the process of transportation, the modules pallets are closely arranged inside the container, to avoid shaking; finally, stable and reliable transfer was achieved at the project site to ensure safe delivery to the customers.
Installation
For the stage of unpacking and installation, Trina Solar provides simple and easy-to-use auxiliary tools with standard configuration, which can be used as the support of the box body to ensure the safety in the entire unpacking process. Many empirical studies have proved that 670W modules also support traditional installation methods. Meanwhile, the number of modules can be reduced by about 24% for 100-megawatt power plant thanks to the substantial increase in module power over 100W, leading to the overall installation cost reduction by 5% to 7%. In addition, Trina Solar has started to develop automatic installation machine, retaining only the delicate manual operations such as fastening screws. This will undoubtedly improve the installation efficiency, reduce the labor costs, and drive down the LCOE.
Mechanical loading performance
The load capacity of Trina Solar’s 670W modules is also tested. On one hand, the optimized frame design and material selection prevents the deformation even when the module area increases, and reduces the risk of micro crack. On the other hand, the non-destructive cutting ensures that each cutting surface of the cell is smooth and crack-free. Owing to these measures, the loading capacity of the 670W Vertex module can adhere to the industry mainstream standard of 5400 Pa positive load and 2400 Pa negative load.
Is the entire industry chain, inverters, trackers, glass supply, is ready to embrace the PV 600W+ era?
At the beginning of this year, Huawei, Si-Neng, and Sungrow launched inverters compatible with the 600W+modules, and TBEA, GOODWE, Ginlong, Kstar, SMA and some other inverter manufacturers also announced their products compatible with high-power 210mm modules. Obviously, these 18.4A – 18.5A inverters will also be fully compatible with 670W modules. Almost at the same time, eight world-leading PV tracker manufacturers – Arctech Solar, Array Technologies, GameChange Solar, IDEEMATEC, Nextracker, PVH, Soltec, TrinaTracker – announced trackers of full compatibility with 210mm ultra-high power modules.
In early March, glass manufacturers such as Xinyi, Flat, CNBM, Kibing and China Southern Glass also brought the news that they have broken through the bottleneck of width in PV glass raw materials production and started to fully adapt to the large-size 210 modules.
By the end of 2021, 210 modules production capacity is expected to achieve 120 GW in the entire industry. At Trina Solar, 210 modules will account for 70% to 80% of its overall shipments this year. As ultra-high power 600W+ modules becoming an unstoppable trend in the PV industry, the industry will continue to deliver more support for the innovative 210 solutions both upstream and downstream.
— Solar Builder magazine
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.