p-type technology is going to die out: Tanmoy Duari, Axitec Energy

p-type technology is going to die out: Tanmoy Duari, Axitec Energy

Axitec Energy, headquartered at Germany, is making its presence felt in the international markets of USA, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, Vietnam with a strong presence in India, where it is looking at planned capacity of n-type TOPCon solar modules of 300 MW in Gujarat and 300 MW in Tamil Nadu. Tanmoy Duari, CEO, Axitec Energy speaks about the rising popularity of n-type TOPCon and the compares the competing technologies. 

Please give us an insight into the launch of TOPCon technology by Axitec. 

We have launched n-type TOPCon for the Indian market. The solar module industry is currently in a state of flux. There is a changeover happening from the regular p-type mono-perc to the n-type, either a TOPCon or the HJT, which basically are competing technologies with their own merits and disadvantages. However, what I see is that ultimately the industry will decide what promises the best cost-benefit advantage.

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The difference between p-type MONO-PERC- the usual modules that we are producing right now and  n-type modules is that the semiconductor. Earlier, we had the P or the positive type semiconductor, now we have the N or the negative type semiconductor. The advantage with the n-type is that the level of degradation is quite low. With the p-type, we had a degradation of 2.5% in the first year whereas with the n-type, it’s about 1%, which is almost negligible. So, as a result, even though the n-type is more expensive, you end up with higher generation output. As a result, you earn back quicker and you have higher revenues. Well, that’s a techno-commercial question that the customer has to answer. We are waiting for the n-type TOPCon technology to stabilise and I think that is going to happen in the next six months.

Between HJT and TOPCon, HJT gives more energy efficiency but cost-wise it is TOPCon which is more cost-effective. So how would you compare the two and which do you think is better from the producer’s point of view?

Interesting question. They are competing technologies. HJT has a very slight technical edge over the TOPCon technology. However, it is much easier to convert the existing production capacities to a TOPCon rather than an HJT. As a result, TOPCon is much cheaper than an HJT and people will be able to switch over and stabilise their production capacities much sooner. Ultimately TOPCon should be the winner and that is what we are betting on. Sometimes it is not about the best technology, it is the best value for money that you get, and hence TOPCon seems to be the winner right now.

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Are the MONO-PERC days behind us?

From what we understand, a lot of production facilities of regular MONO-PERC modules are switching over to the n-type TOPCon. Hence in the very near future, I would say in the time window of let’s say, seven to eight months, probably seventy per cent of the market will be captured by n-type technology, either HJT or TOPCon, And p-type is going to die out.

Tell us about your installed capacities and what are your future ambitions?

There are two markets specifically, one is the world market and then there is an Indian market, and it is not necessary that the Indian market follows the world scenario. The Indian market is very hot right now because we have several government policies which guide, and make people buy or not buy at a particular point in time. For example, ALMM is one of them. Having said that, for us, worldwide we have done more than 5 gigawatts of solar installation. In India, we have done more than 175 megawatts, however, this year itself I think we should be able to add another 300-350 megawatts itself. So, for us, the growth in India, even though we started really late, overall, is very encouraging for us, and we see a very bright future in the Indian market.

Tell us about your US projects?

Yes, we are quite popular in the US but our particular key segment there is small rooftops rather than the big scale projects. When you look at the absolute numbers in terms of megawatts and gigawatts, they are probably less. But when you look at the number of projects installed with Axitec, it is a good number. We are quite popular in the consumer segment or in a B2C segment.