Trina Solar powers up to 600W PV module, throws down gauntlet to industry

Just four months after Trina Solar opened orders for its top-of-the-range 500W PV modules in Australia, the Chinese solar giant has thrown down the gauntlet to the industry with the global launch of a 600W module.

The 600W Vertex module was unveiled by Trina on Thursday at an industrial chain summit of the 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance in China.

Its arrival turns the page on the barely formed 500W module club, which has in recent months welcomed members from almost all of the solar majors, including Longi Solar, Canadian Solar, Risen Energy, JA Solar, and JinkoSolar.

As the name suggests, the 600W panels build on Trina’s 500+W Vertex technology, which the company flagged just last month as a stepping stone to the next big power upgrade.

And already, Trina has made the leap. Not bad considering it was just this past April that the 500W Vertex module was celebrated for notching up an industry-leading output of 515.8W, following the formal mass production of the Vertex pilot line on March 18, and the shipment of the first Vertex order on March 27.

“The Vertex has built a brand new technological platform by integrating and innovating a variety of technologies such as 210mm large size silicon wafers, multi-busbars, 1/3 cut technology, non-destructive cutting, and high-density packaging,” said Trina Solar’s vice general manager and EVP, Yin Rongfang in April.

“With the development and improvement of the industry chain, especially the improvement in glass supply capacity, adding another column of cells to the existing five-column layout design can increase the Vertex module’s power output to more than 600W,” he said.

“Furthermore, with PERC+ cell conversion efficiency anticipated to surpass 24%, combined with other factors such as the optimisation in module design, improvements in load capacity as well as downstream installation, the Vertex modules’ power output will continue to increase.

“This provides the direction and path for the iterative development of PV modules, which will further drive the continuous decrease in the BOS and LCOE of PV systems.”

To that end, the launch of the 600W Vertex follows closely on the establishment of the 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance, announced just this week on Tuesday.

The Alliance is a collection of 39 firms – including the likes of Huawei, JA Solar, Risen Energy, Nextracker and Sungrow – that has pledged to work together to build products, systems and standards for next-generation PV technology, starting with 600W+ ultra-high power modules.

The idea is to “synergise” the main resources of the industrial value chain – from silicon to wafers, cells, modules, trackers, inverters, materials and equipment manufacturers – and integrate core processes of research and development, manufacturing and other applications.

“PV is becoming one of the strongest driving forces for energy transformation,” a statement on behalf of the Alliance said on Tuesday.

“To bring more value to customers and promote sustainable development of the PV industry, open innovation is critical.”