7 companies in the photovoltaic industry seek standard in wafer size

Seven companies from the global photovoltaic industry have come together to establish the new standard M10 silicon wafer size (182 mm x 182 mm). The announcement was made through an open letter to the photovoltaic market this Wednesday (24).

The letter is signed by manufacturers JA Solar, Jinko Solar, LONGi, Canadian Solar, Jiangsu Runyang Yueda Photovoltaic Technology, Lu'an Solar Technology and Jiangsu Zhongyu Photovoltaic Technology.

According to the movement, the absence of a common standard has caused companies to adopt wafers of varying sizes, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs across the entire industry supply chain, including wafers, cells, modules and ancillary materials, like glass.

Aiming to accelerate the efficient and standardized development of the sector, the seven manufacturers advocate the establishment of a silicon wafer standard – M10 – with a size of 182 mm x 182 mm and its inclusion in the specification files of the industry standards organization.

“We are confident that this will optimize the use of resources and promote the continued healthy development of the photovoltaic industry,” LONGi stated in the open letter.

For Felipe Santos, sales manager for distributed generation at JA Solar, the agreement signed by the companies highlights the importance of the union of players in the photovoltaic market. “The secret to sustainable success is cooperation. We have to cooperate for the common good, aiming for the good of the planet and the market, offering a more viable solution to contribute to the increase in scale and the expansion of photovoltaic solar energy in energy matrices”.