Yingli to Power the Largest Bifacial PV Plant in Europe

The Largest Bifacial PV Plant in Europe project will contain 1,428 Yingli’s PANDA Bifacial modules with a nominal peak power ranging from 275 Watt to 280 Watt each.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. announced that Tempress Systems B.V. has begun to construct the Europe’s largest bifacial PV plant with a capacity of close to 400 kilowatt (KW). The project is located next to the headquarters of Tempress in Vaassen in the Netherlands and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. The annual energy production from the Bifacial PV Plant is expected to exceed 400 MWh.

The bifacial PV plant in Europe will contain 1,428 Yingli’s PANDA Bifacial modules with a nominal peak power ranging from 275 Watt to 280 Watt each. PANDA Bifacial module contains n-type crystalline silicon solar cells based on the n-PERT technology jointly developed by Yingli, Tempress Systems and ECN, which can generate power not only from the front side, but also from the rear side by making use of the reflected photons that hit the module on the back side. Therefore, the power yield of the PANDA Bifacial module can be increased by up to 30% compared to a mono-facial standard module. In addition, the n-type crystalline silicon solar cells used by the PANDA Bifacial module are more sensitive for low light conditions than regular p-type cells.

The PANDA Bifacial module is comprised of two layers of 2.5mm thick tempered glass, which replace the conventional back sheet and glass structure. It also bears a 30-year-linear warranty exceeding the life time of standard modules.

The project has been designed by Schulz Systemtechnik BV who will also do the installation. The modules will be mounted on a fixed rack specially designed for bifacial modules to optimize the rear side performance and are produced by Benz Alusysteme GmbH. Each module will be equipped with micro inverters from APsystems to ensure optimal energy generation and monitor the performance of each module.

“We are proud to be the first in Europe to install a bifacial PV plant of such a large size“, said Dr. Albert Hasper, General Manager of Tempress. “Besides electricity generation, this plant will also be used as a showcase to prove the benefits of using bifacial module technology.”

“We are glad to receive substantial orders for our PANDA Bifacial module, which was recently introduced during the SNEC exhibition in Shanghai, May 2016 and has been improved through our continuously technology innovation,” said Dr. Dengyuan Song, Chief Technology Officer of Yingli. “Tempress and ECN are our strategic partners for many years and this innovative product is a result of this long-term collaboration.”