News flash
- CPIA says TOPCon will remain the leading solar cell technology through to 2030.
- Technology continues to achieve record efficiencies and the highest global manufacturing deployment.
- Industry focus shifts to incremental gains in wafer quality, passivation and metallisation processes.
Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar technology is expected to maintain its dominant position in the global photovoltaic market until the end of 2030, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.
TOPCon has emerged as the staple technology of the current solar manufacturing era, setting multiple efficiency benchmarks while securing the largest share of global PV production capacity. The technology has also achieved the highest deployment levels among mainstream high efficiency solar cell architectures.
Although TOPCon is now regarded as a relatively mature technology, there is still room for further optimisation at both cell and module level. Current development efforts are focused on refining passivation and contact formation techniques, improving metallisation processes and enhancing rear side module design.
N-type wafers have effectively become the industry standard. However, wafer specifications continue to vary depending on cell architecture requirements. TOPCon wafer requirements currently sit between heterojunction (HJT) and back contact (BC) technologies in terms of material quality demands and process sensitivity.
Manufacturers are concentrating on incremental efficiency improvements and tighter control of material quality across the supply chain.
As a result, the key wafer parameters relevant to TOPCon production have remained largely unchanged over the past year, reflecting the technology’s growing maturity and stability within the global solar manufacturing landscape.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
