Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 14:40 .

Exawatt's Molly Morgan Discusses Key Drivers and Future Trends in the Solar Industry at Conference

Molly Morgan, a Senior Research Analyst at Exawatt, outlined the evolution and current state of the solar industry during her talk. She highlighted that Exawatt has been analyzing the solar market for over ten years from various perspectives, including supply-demand dynamics through production and installation forecasts combined with cost and technology forecasting. Initially focused on cost reduction by improving manufacturing processes and scaling up production—referred to as the "cost reduction era"—the industry saw gradual efficiency improvements. However, around 2015-2016, there was a shift towards more rapid performance enhancements marking the beginning of what Molly calls the "performance improvement era." This era focuses on advanced technologies like Topcon, Heterojunction (HJT), and Back Contact which are driving significant efficiency gains while maintaining some level of cost reductions. The transition from older BSF cells to PERC cells marked an important technological shift in 2016; recently, this transitioned further into TOPCon technology due to its superior efficiency at lower costs starting around 2023. Though newer technologies such as Heterojunction (HJT) and Back Contact offer even higher efficiencies than TOPCon, they come with substantial price premiums making them suitable for niche applications rather than mainstream adoption. Morgan's presentation underscores how combining historical data analysis with future forecasting provides comprehensive insights into what can be expected in terms of technological advancements heading toward 2030s' end.

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Speaker

Molly Morgan
Senior Research Analyst
Exawatt
United Kingdom

Talk of session: What's Hot in Solar Technology: New Tech Trends To Lower Costs & Improve Solar Product Functionality

The advances in technology along the solar value chain in recent years have been breathtaking: Innovations have included considerably larger wafers, new cell technologies, much higher-efficiency solar modules, smarter inverters with management systems that can control fully electrified high-tech homes and less material-intensive fixed or tracking mounting systems that can be installed faster and boost system yields. This session will provide an overview of the latest technologies.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Dr. Harry Wirth
Director, Division Power Solutions
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Germany

To Talk

Opportunities and Developments in Balance of Systems

Speaker

To Talk

Finding the Right Inverters for Any Purpose

Speaker

Arvid Bürkle
Head of Product Lifecycle Management
KACO new energy GmbH - A Siemens Company
Germany

To Talk

PV Manufacturing in Europe: Discussing Ways to Realize Competitive Local Production

Speaker

Dr. Peter Fath
CEO
RCT Solutions GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Fire Chat: What's Needed in Solar to Bring the Technology to the Next Level?

Speaker

Helena Li
Executive President
Trina Solar
Singapore

To Talk