Chinese news outlets reported recently that the GW-scale production line of Guangdong Golden Glass Technologies Ltd. had completed its first round of parameter optimization and attained a peak conversion efficiency rate of 24.27% for its large-size (210mm) HJT cells. Golden Glass said that this peak rate more or less aligned with the initial target of 24.3% that the company had set earlier, so the first shipments of HJT cells to its customers are expected to take place in April as scheduled.
Golden Glass invested RMB 832 million through its subsidiary Wujiang Golden Glass Technologies Ltd. to set up 1.2GW of integrated production capacity for HJT products in China’s Jiangsu Province. Its first production line for HJT cells completed pilot production this February. The company has been emphasizing that the production line deploys the HJT 3.0 equipment and tools that it has developed in-house. In particular, the key PECVD and PVD equipment systems are fully integrated into a single process section that supports continuous coating. This setup also raises the conversion efficiency of the product. Furthermore, its process technology enables the creation of a cell that features a “microcrystalline” or amorphous silicon layer.
Apart from raising conversion efficiency, Golden Glass is also looking to adopt other different manufacturing models and processing technologies in order to effectively lower manufacturing cost. For instance, the company is exploring possible solutions for reducing silver consumption, replacing base metal materials, and thinning wafers.
With the resources and support from its main shareholder Our House Group, Golden Glass successfully manufactured its first 210mm HJT cell in July 2021. Following this latest progress in the development of the manufacturing process, Golden Glass will continue to optimize production flow, processing technologies, and product design as it approaches the mass production phase. In particular, the company wants to have the best cost-performance ratio for the microcrystalline layer so that its HJT cells will be able to quickly attain its next conversion efficiency target of 24.5%.