Seven solar equipment manufacturers have come together to establish the new M10 silicon wafer standard size (182mm x 182mm). These include LONGi Solar, JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, Runyang Yueda Photovoltaic Technology, Lu’an Solar Technology and Zhongyu Photovoltaic Technology.
For a long time uptil 2018, M2 wafers measuring 156.75mm were widely seen as the industry standard, representing more than 90 per cent of the market. Since 2019 however, manufacturers have begun to see benefits in increasing wafer sizes, leading ultimately to modules rated at over 500 W appearing on the market. With the absence of a common standard, companies have adopted wafers of varying sizes, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs throughout the entire industry supply chain, including wafers, cells, modules and auxiliary materials such as glass. This situation has complicated customers’ selection processes, the installation of photovoltaic systems and coordination between the industry’s upstream and downstream sectors.
To effectively address these issues and accelerate the industry’s efficient and standardized development, the aforementioned companies have entered into an agreement. “We jointly call upon our industry partners and colleagues to support this initiative and embrace the M10 silicon wafer standard size (182mm x 182mm) in the development of next-generation silicon wafers, cells and module products, thus promoting the establishment of a unified supply chain and standardization of equipment manufacturing and customer applications for the entire industry,” reads a statement from Longi Green Energy Technology.
The signatories of the joint initiative include Qu Xiaoye, Chairman, Canadian Solar Inc., Tao Longzhon Chairman, Jiangsu Runyang Yueda Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd, Long Daqiang, Chairman, Jiangsu Zhongyu Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd., Ji Baofang, Chairman, JA Solar Co., Ltd., Li Xiande, Chairman, Jinko Solar Holding Co., Ltd, Zhong Baoshen, Chairman, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and Deng Ming, Chairman, Lu’an Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
REGlobal’s Views: With the absence of a common standard, solar manufacturers across the world have adopted wafers of varying sizes, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs throughout the entire industry supply chain, including wafers, cells, modules and auxiliary materials such as glass. This situation has complicated customers’ selection processes, the installation of photovoltaic systems and coordination between the industry’s upstream and downstream sectors. An initiative to promote standardization will help optimize the use of resources and promote the photovoltaic industry’s continued healthy development. It will be interesting to see if more manufacturers join the initiative.
