Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., the world's largest producer of solar panels, has launched two new high-performance solar panels in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Suntech introduced HiPerforma, a 245 watt module for residential, commercial, and utility-scale electricity generation that utilizes Suntech's Pluto cell processing technology, which features a proprietary metallization process that reduces shading on the cell surface and allows cells to absorb more sunlight to generate more electricity.
The revolutionary Pluto cell processing technology features a proprietary front surface metallization process that creates grid contacts thinner than 30 microns wide, about a quarter the size of traditional screen-printed cells. These ultra-thin metal lines - made primarily of copper instead of silver - reduce shading on the cell surface, allowing the cells to absorb more sunlight and generate more electricity. The Pluto cell processing technology improves solar cell efficiency by up to 10% compared to traditional screen-printed solar cells and confers performance advantages to all types of silicon substrates - a unique capability among most advanced solar cell technologies. The technology allows Suntech to produce high-performance solar cells and modules with different types of multicrystalline and monocrystalline wafers.
In addition to HiPerforma, Suntech also introduced the new 290W Vd-Series multicrystalline module that utilizes advanced silicon ingot casting techniques commercialized internally along with the expansion of Suntech's internal silicon wafer production capacity. With this product, Suntech has successfully commercialized a laboratory silicon casting technology that produces high-quality multicrystalline wafers using modified multicrystalline casting equipment. In addition to higher power output, the technology achieves lower oxygen content for multicrystalline wafers leading to strong resistance to light-induced degradation.