The Heterojunction (HJT) era is set to arrive sooner than anticipated, according to Xu Xiaohua, Chairman of Anhui Huasun Energy, during a panel session at the 2023 PV Industry Supply Chain Development Forum.
Joined by industry leaders from China Huaneng Group, Sungrow, Trina Solar, Chint New Energy, DAS Solar, Maxwell Technology, and Canadian Solar, the discussion focused on the next generation technology roadmap, differentiated competitive strategies, and supply chain integration in the PV industry.
With China’s renewable energy development gaining momentum under dual-carbon targets, there has been rapid growth in installed capacity and electricity generation. The surge in market demand has further accelerated technological advancements in the solar industry.
Xu emphasized that both TOPCON and HJT are the third-generation mainstream technologies after PERC, poised to dominate PV cell development in the coming years.
While TOPCON is currently progressing faster with expected production capacity exceeding 600 GW in 2023, HJT production capacity is projected to reach 150 GW by 2025. Xu firmly believes that the HJT era will arrive sooner than expected, eliminating outdated capacities at a faster pace—a trend that cannot be reversed.
While outlining the challenges faced in industrializing these technologies, Xu highlighted the need for HJT to address upstream material supply chain stability while achieving a balance between high efficiency and high production capacity.
To make solar PV a mainstream energy source, reducing dependence on precious and rare metals is crucial.
HJT has made significant progress in this area, utilizing busbar-free technology and silver-coated copper to eventually lower the cost of silver paste below that of PERC.
Huasun’s low-indium target material solution aims to reduce indium consumption in HJT cell manufacturing by over two-thirds, advancing toward indium-free technology.
Furthermore, the simplified and highly automated workflow of the HJT process shows potential as a “lights-out factory,” reducing labor costs.
In an increasingly homogeneous market, Xu addressed the need for companies to pursue innovation and differentiated strategies.
While most companies opted for TOPCON, Huasun took the pioneering approach of choosing HJT, gaining a competitive advantage.
Huasun has been committed to leading through cutting-edge technologies, offering higher product efficiency, stable power generation performance, superior quality assurance, and expandable platform-based technology.
As Huasun’s HJT-perovskite tandem production technology matures, the company will continue to redefine the PV industry with a new era of “HJT+X.”
