With the rapid development of country's photovoltaic industry, the golden age of N-type technology has arrived! Heterojunction（HJT） technology has attracted much attention due to its many advantages such as high efficiency, high reliability, low temperature coefficient, and low attenuation, and is increasingly becoming an important indicator of the photovoltaic industry. In order to better promote standard unification and technological breakthroughs, the High-Efficiency Heterojunction 740W+ Club (hereinafter referred to as the Club) successfully held its third roundtable meeting on May 11. The first 10 club initiators gathered in Xuancheng, Anhui, to jointly explore the sustainable development path of the heterojunction industry.

The third roundtable meeting of the High-Efficiency Heterojunction 740W+ Club was hosted by Anhui Huasun Energy. Solar Potential Energy, Risen Energy, MingYang Photovoltaic, Quanwei New Energy,  GrandSunergy,  GoldenSolar,  Leascend Photovoltaic,  WINHITECH,  and Akcome Technology (ranked by the first letter of each company's full name) held in-depth discussions on a number of topics, including the appearance and EL standards of heterojunction modules, and heterojunction module testing standards. More than 30 club member representatives actively put forward suggestions and jointly explored the path of industry standardization.

    Technology leads and promotes industry development       

The emergence of "new quality productivity" in 2024 reflects the key role of scientific and technological innovation in industrial construction. As one of the key technologies for reshaping the future photovoltaic industry landscape, N-type heterojunction technology is currently in a critical development stage. The establishment of the High-Efficiency Heterojunction 740W+ Club aims to promote the sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry by jointly building a heterojunction innovation ecosystem with technological innovation as the core driving force.

"Our heterojunction club has gone from the cold March to early summer. Now the market is gradually warming up, which is related to the product strategy and long-term technology accumulation adopted by everyone. As everyone continues to speak out, the club has gradually reaped positive benefits," said Xu Xiaohua, Chairman and CEO of Huasun Energy, in his opening speech at the roundtable. He gave a positive outlook on the future development of heterojunction: "The future of heterojunction still requires everyone to continue to work hard and forge ahead together!

    Standard-driven to help reduce costs and improve efficiency     

At the founding conference of the 740W+ Club in March, representatives of the heterojunction initiating member units reached a preliminary consensus on the formulation of heterojunction industry standards. In the future, they will standardize the manufacturing of products, production lines, and industries, adjust their own development direction, make coordinated progress, further achieve the goal of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and promote the healthy development of the industry.

Regarding the issue of heterojunction standardization, Xu Xin, senior vice president of Huasun Energy, mentioned: "We hope to unify the standards of heterojunction modules through this meeting. This is not only to allow club members to clearly understand and effectively balance their own development level in the industry, but also to work together to promote the sustainable development of the entire heterojunction industry. At the same time, Huasun Energy has also formulated an initiative on module testing standards, hoping to quickly promote the relevant standardization process of the heterojunction industry."

Regarding the standardization of heterojunction, Zhang Zhongwei, President of the Photovoltaic Division of GrandSunergy, said: "The standardization of heterojunction must be agreed upon as soon as possible to form a set of standard systems that are mutually recognized by both supply and sales parties. The formulation of standards requires comprehensive considerations at both the macro and micro levels. Under the premise of comprehensively considering the current status of the industry and market expectations, it is also necessary to seek common ground while reserving differences based on the individual conditions of each enterprise. While enabling the progress of the enterprise itself, it is also necessary to promote the entire heterojunction industry to stride forward and achieve a win-win situation!"

Song Yifeng, director of Risen Energy's product center, said: "There are many categories of standards, and the most basic dimensions can be distinguished by reliability and appearance. Among them, the reliability standard must be strict, because it is directly related to the interests of customers, and even more related to the life and reputation of the company and brand. Therefore, we must control the appearance standard based on the reliability of the product while ensuring the cost and yield."

Zhao Tianming, Product Management Quality Director of GoldenSolar, said: "Unifying HJT standards is crucial to the advancement of industrialization. In the process of promoting standardization, we need to combine the characteristics of HJT products and formulate standards in a "tailor-made" manner to ensure product reliability while optimizing yield and cost.

Unified certification promotes industrial upgrading

Based on the analysis and comparison of test data results from multiple testing agencies, and combined with the industry influence and user recognition of certification agencies, Xu Xin, senior vice president of Huasun Energy, proposed an initiative on the selection of heterojunction module certification standards: "I hope that all club members can unify certification standards and break down existing market expansion barriers." In response to this initiative, club members conducted in-depth discussions on their respective product conditions and certification choices.

Wang Xin, Chairman of Leascend Photovoltaic, said: "The rapid development and progress of heterojunction technology in recent years is obvious to all. While constantly promoting technological innovation, the market environment is becoming increasingly complex and changeable. In this context, how to scientifically determine the test standards and results of various institutions and select certification institutions that truly meet our needs is undoubtedly an important task that requires careful consideration and multi-faceted considerations. If we can achieve the unification of certification standards, it will not only greatly improve the operating efficiency of the industry, but also ensure the orderly and healthy development of the industry. Its significance is undoubtedly far-reaching."

Chu Yifan, Chairman of Quanwei Technology, shared her experience in testing agency certification. She said: "We often mention standardization. To really promote and implement it, I hope that all companies can work together with multiple departments such as products, technology, business, and marketing to align specific items. I look forward to making substantial progress as soon as possible under the promotion of Huasheng."

Zhang Xiong, executive vice general manager of Mingyang Photovoltaic, said: "The formulation of standards should not only consider technical indicators, but also factors such as product stability, cost reduction and efficiency improvement. This requires the joint efforts of the club to build a set of standards applicable to the heterojunction industry and promote the further development and application of heterojunction technology."

Zhao Xuewen, Chairman of Solar Potential Energy, said: "The testing agencies we choose to certify our products often do not use the same standards as the end customers, which results in inconsistent production standards. At the operational level, we need to unify the inspection and production standards from the bottom up, based on higher-dimensional and more authoritative testing agencies, and promote standard unification from top to bottom."

Zhou Pinjuan, Vice President of Akcome Technology Supply Chain, mentioned: "Testing standards are related to product manufacturing costs, customer procurement costs, etc., so the selection of testing institutions needs to fully consider their authority, influence, and coordination in the industry, and clarify the value they can bring."

Ma Yiwei, Vice President of SOLARZOOM, said: "We must not only unify this set of industry technical standards, but also connect this set of standards with the media, financial markets, and the government, and clarify the differences between them and other industry standards. In addition, the 740W+ Club must also speak out in unison on HJT's technical route, cost reduction path, market space, and ultimate goal. These are all what we will promote in the future."

Ni Zhichun, general manager of WINHITECH, also shared his views: "Equipment and target materials of each unit are different, which also affects the process. In addition, the testing standards and processes of testing institutions are also different. The alignment of testing standards among enterprises requires the coordinated promotion of our 740W+ Club."

Open and win-win, build a healthy ecosystem

Improving efficiency and reducing costs in heterojunction requires the coordinated efforts of the entire industry chain. Under the advocacy of Xu Xiaohua, Chairman and CEO of Huasun Energy, the rotating chairman unit, this roundtable meeting held a special seminar to explore the improvement of efficiency and cost of heterojunction from multiple dimensions, from silicon wafers, slurries, to  0BB module technology, in order to jointly draw on experience, explore the most effective strategies and methods, and help the heterojunction industry achieve its goals of reducing costs and improving efficiency.

At the seminar, many important supply chain companies in the industry gathered together to share their efficiency-enhancing and cost-reducing measures from multiple aspects such as silicon wafers, slurries, processes and technologies. Representatives of participating companies actively participated in the discussion, carried out in-depth exchanges and dialogues, and jointly explored how to achieve improved production efficiency and reduced costs in different links, thereby promoting the entire industry to a higher level. Among them, Wang Kai, deputy general manager of TCL  Marketing BU, clarified the important position of heterojunction in Zhonghuan's development strategy during his sharing, and shared with the club TCL's latest progress in reducing silicon wafer costs through multiple actual cases.

Wang Kai said: "As an upstream manufacturer of cells and modules, TCL is very compatible with heterojunction in terms of strategic logic of the industrial environment, both in terms of production and market. Therefore, Zhonghuan is very supportive and hopes that heterojunction can grow rapidly. In this process, TCL will play its role in the development of the heterojunction industry and advance in efficient collaboration."

Yang Bochuan, president of Risen Energy's Global Photovoltaic Research Institute, expressed his views on heterojunction technology and silicon wafer cost reduction: "Due to its symmetrical structure and ultra-low temperature manufacturing, heterojunction allows the use of thinner crystalline silicon substrates and maintains high cell conversion efficiency, thereby reducing the use of silicon materials. In line with the theme of future cost reduction and efficiency improvement, we will explore and research silicon wafer technology suitable for heterojunction, including research on the mechanism of silicon wafer oxygen content, carbon-oxygen complex control technology, metal impurity purification technology, and impurity gettering process development."

Ma Shuming, director of GoldenSolar Cell Factory, believes: "In actual production applications, the chain cleaning and impurity gettering equipment of HJT cell production lines will seriously affect the fragmentation rate of 100μm thick silicon wafers, and the impurity gettering process will also cause the cost of cells to rise. If the silicon wafers that do not need to be cleaned and impurities gettered can be distinguished at the silicon wafer end, the production cost of heterojunction cells will be further reduced."

At the same time, as a new and open platform, the 740W+ Club has also received more and more attention. In this roundtable meeting, the club jointly reviewed the application of new members, hoping to attract more companies and organizations interested in heterojunctions with a more open and inclusive ecology and concept, and jointly promote the all-round development of heterojunctions.

At the same time, the third roundtable meeting of the 740W+ Club was held at the same time as the third meeting of the Collaborative Innovation Platform for the Industrialization of Heterojunction Technology. At the meeting, many industry-leading companies including Suzhou Maxwell, Ningxia XN, Shenzhen Guangyuan, Changzhou Fusion Materials, Suzhou Sierwei, Wuxi DKEM, Suzhou Isilver Material, Anhui Baoshengyuan, Honghui New Energy (Anhui), and Shuangliang Silicon Materials (Baotou) were invited to conduct in-depth exchanges. The discussions mainly focused on 0BB technology, heterojunction paste technology, silicon materials and silicon wafer technology, striving to explore more efficient and sustainable development strategies through technological innovation and development.

In order to help 740W+ Club members spread heterojunction technology and promote the industrialization process of heterojunction, a launching ceremony of Huasun Lecture Hall was held at the meeting; at the same time, Huasun Energy signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with JINCHANCE New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. and China Power Investment Ronghe Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. to further coordinate the upstream and downstream of the industry, and carry out strategic, comprehensive and all-round cooperation with industry partners to promote the high-quality development of the heterojunction industry.

As a platform that brings together top companies and experts and scholars in the industry, the 740W+ Club plays a vital role in the sustainable development of the heterojunction industry and even the photovoltaic industry. At this roundtable meeting, everyone reached a general consensus on the standardization of the heterojunction industry and the co-construction of the industry ecosystem through high-precision topic content, efficient meeting discussions, and in-depth focus on product research and development, material technology, standard certification, and channel expansion.

With the joint efforts of all members of the club, the High-Efficiency Heterojunction 740W+ Club will continue to play an active guiding role, promote the continuous innovation and application of heterojunction technology, and promote the high-quality development of the heterojunction industry.