Cogenra Solar, Inc. today announced that its modules have broken two world records, achieving unprecedented power levels using commercially available, unsorted photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and its propriety high-volume Dense Cell Interconnect (DCI) process. Cogenra modules reached 400W peak power using front-contact mono-crystalline silicon cells and 352W using multi-crystalline cells, representing a nearly 15 percent boost over current 72-cell format modules. These world records were independently verified by the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) and build on Cogenra’s previously announced records for 60-cell format modules.
And by delivering unprecedented power per module, Cogenra is driving down balance of system (BOS) and soft costs expected to unlock the next phase of solar growth. “The era of module efficiency has arrived,” said Cogenra Solar CEO and founder, Dr. Gilad Almogy. “In recent years, scale has been the main driver of cost reductions. Now is the time for the solar industry to revisit performance innovations to continue driving down the cost of solar and drive market expansion. Cogenra is ushering in this new era with innovative module technology that leverages the nearly 60GW of existing low-cost cell capacity.”
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Current solar modules use ribbon interconnects, which shade the silicon cells from sunlight, lead to resistance losses and are a major source of power degradation. Cogenra’s patent-pending DCI technology rewires the PV module by efficiently connecting cells on the module, eliminating the need for ribbons, solder-joints and inter-cell gaps. As a result, DCI modules achieve a range of benefits, including: Power, 15 percent more power per panel reduces BOS and installation costs; Reliability, Better withstands thermal cycling, hotspots, mechanical loads and external shading, drastically reducing module degradation and leading to superior lifetime project returns; Aesthetics, Eliminates ribbons and inter-cell gaps for an attractive all black appearance; and Scalability, DCI technology is compatible with nearly 95% of the global PV capacity and achieves a performance leap without requiring new investment in cell lines.
Cogenra is currently ramping up California-based production line, with DCI modules available in volume starting in April. Cogenra’s DCI technology is field proven, and is currently in operation in a 1MW solar array at University of Arizona’s SolarZone.
source: http://www.powerpulse.net/story.php?storyID=31748
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