REC claims to have 1.8 GW of annual module production capacity after its Singapore expansion.
Image: Leonid laitskyi/Flickr
Norwegian solar module manufacturer REC has started mass production of its Alpha Series heterojunction (HJT) modules at its manufacturing facility in Singapore.
The company said it invested US$150 million in the new 600 MW production line which has taken its annual panel manufacturing capacity to 1.8 GW. “It is a bold move jumping to HJT and it is also very bold to do 600 MW in one shot – but being bold and innovative is in REC’s DNA,” said the company’s chief technology officer Shankar G Sridhara.
The new module series was launched in May at Intersolar in Munich, Germany, where pv magazine had the chance to interview REC vice-president for Europe, Middle East and Africa sales Ivano Zanni. The VP described the Alpha Series as the next step beyond the company’s monocrystalline product and the n-type mono module it launched last year.
The 60-cell panel has a reported power output of 380 W. That, the manufacturer claims, translates to a power density of 217 W/m², providing 20% more power than conventional panels with the same footprint. “The module offers the best power density you can get, an important fact for rooftops especially, where there are limited square meters,” said Zanni in May.
According to the product’s official specification (pdf), the 380 W module has an efficiency of 21.7% and the black version has an efficiency of 21.4% and an output of up to 375 W.
The launch of the module follows that of the REC n-type mono panel N-Peak last summer and the TwinPeak 2 Mono in December.
Source: pv magazine
