The Italian company MegaCell, already active in monocrystalline bifacial photovoltaic production, has succeeded in producing the first polycrystalline bifacial solar cells to be made on an industrial scale. The cells are being produced at its factory located in Carmignano di Brenta, Padua, where a new bifacial PV cell production plant recently established by MegaCell srl, a MegaGroup subsidiary, is mass producing BiSoN N-type monocrystalline bifacial cells.
Last December the company announced the signing of a technology licensing agreement with the German company RCT Solutions for the development of the industrial polycrystalline bifacial PV process. The industrialisation phase started at the beginning of this year and has rapidly achieved the planned target.
The first cells off the line have already registered these promising efficiency data – 18% on the facing side and 15.3% on the rear side of the solar cell, with a bifaciality factor of 85% and an overall cell efficiency of 22.5%. The back side energy contribution is 25%, a typical value for this type of bifacial module.
The new module generates a peak power of 257 Wp on the facing side and 218 Wp on the rear side, reaching an overall total of 320 We (watts equivalent). This is a world record for photovoltaic cells.