Due to rising demand for rooftop solar PV systems, 250W solar modules with 60 solar cells are expected to become the mainstream.
Demand for rooftop solar PV systems in Europe and Japan is expected to grow because government subsidies have shifted to support such systems.
Solar makers noted that although many suffered from net losses in 2012, the firms have been aggressive about increasing conversion efficiency to try to escape price competition.
In addition, Germany, the world's biggest solar market, decided to cut solar incentives for ground-mounted solar PV systems and focus on rooftop solar PV systems in 2012. Other Europe markets are predicted to adopt similar programs. Due to the limited area on rooftops, solar products need to have a high conversion efficiency. Furthermore, Japan has been showing strong demand for high efficiency solar products, pushing solar firms in Greater China to invest in increasing product efficiency.
Solar firms added that 250W solar modules are predicted to become the mainstream after the second half of 2013. For a solar module with 60 solar cells, a mono-crystalline solar module can produce 250W of electricity while a multi-crystalline solar module can produce 235-240W of electricity. This means the solar cell conversion efficiency needs to be 18.2% for mono-crystalline and 16.8-17.2% for multi-crystalline.
Solar cell firms noted that in 2013, to meet demand in Japan, the conversion efficiency for mono- and multi-crystalline solar cells needs to increase to 18.8% and 17.4% respectively.
