Yesterday REC Group displayed its Alphα series solar module at Intersolar Europe and released the official specification page (pdf). As suggested last week, the module is built on a Meyer Burger manufacturing line, and utilizes the company’s Smart Wire cell interconnection technology.
The product’s efficiency tops out at 21.7% with a 380 watt module, with the all black version (pdf) topping at 375 watts and 21.4% efficiency.
REC’s warranty (pdf) guarantees no defects in material and workmanship for 20 years from time of purchase (and 20.5 years from date of manufacturing). If the module is installed by an REC Solar professional, then the warranty is extended to 25 years.
REC’s Power Output Warranty says actual power output will be greater than 98% of the nameplate rating during the first year, thereafter output will decline annually by no more than 0.5% for 24 years, so that by the end of the 25th year, actual output of at least 86% of the nameplate power remains.
If either the product or power performance warranty isn’t met, then REC reserves the right to repair the product, replace it with a comparable product, or refund the current market price of an equivalent product at the time of the claim.
The warranty does not cover onsite labor associated with “de-installation or removal of defective Products, transport or the re-installation of replaced or repaired Products or any components.”
This is not the first novel module product that has been unveiled by REC, as in 2014 the company led the industry in a new direction with its Twin Peak module, one of the first to be based on half-cut cells.
As with other silicon heterojunction products, the individual solar cells (above) comprise layers of thin film amorphous silicon above and below the monocrystalline solar cell, which in this case is n-type mono.
The product is expected to be available in Q4’19, with the full 600 MW manufacturing line coming online later in 2020. REC Group says it already has orders from installation partners in Germany, Australia, France, Italy, Netherlands and the United States.
The products’s Youtube marketing video is useful for describing the product to end users:
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Awesome product, love that panels are getting close to 400w for a 60 cell size. Hopefully price improvements are coming as well..
Muy interesante pero deberian de hablar de los estudio acerca de nuevas tecnologias para generacion fotovoltaicas