- A group of seven solar manufacturing companies are leading the call for the standardisation of solar module manufacturing.
- The manufacturers believe that standardisation will provide investment security and enable the solar market scale.
A group of eight foremost solar module manufacturers including Trina Solar, Risen Energy, Zhonghuan Semiconductor, Tongwei, Huansheng Photovoltaic, Runyang New Energy Technology, Canadian Solar and Wuxi Shangji Automation are advocating for the standardisation of 210mm silicon wafers and modules. Under their proposal, the group wants the 210+/-0.25mm approved as the silicon wafer standard size under the 210-220mm size range under the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International Photovoltaic Standards (SEMI).
The conventional wafer (thin slice of semiconductor, i.e. crystalline silicon used to manufacture solar panel) size over the years has been 156.75mm, making up about 90 per cent of monocrystalline wafers in the market. However, since 2019 several manufacturers have adopted increased wafer sizes due to their advantages. But since the modules are manufactured by various producers, the change in size has been irregular across the board, causing market confusion and increased costs.
Trina has been the most vocal member of the lot; the company has proposed standard sizes of silicon wafers and modules as follows:
The coalition argues that standardising the wafer size will enable the solar sector scale and optimise the production efficiency, supply chains and promote innovation. They also believe that it will lead to increased competition in manufacturing as the initial investment for new companies will decrease and provide security that the popularity of a new size will not invalidate investments in a certain size. Cost savings breakdown