In order to enhance customer value more accurately, JA Solar has always attached great importance to the full-scenario application of photovoltaic modules, especially in extreme environments. Over the years, JA Solar has successively launched high-performance module solutions for different scenarios such as hot and humid, plateau, extreme cold, and offshore, and successfully completed the "extreme challenge" with efficient and stable power generation performance in their respective demonstration projects. Now, JA Solar's full-scenario application of modules has once again successfully opened up to the extreme desert.
Recently, JA Solar brought the "High-performance Desert Photovoltaic Modules to Help Photovoltaic Desertification Control" solution to the "Operation Ceremony of the Turpan Demonstration Base of the National Inspection Group and the Photovoltaic Demonstration Forum", sharing its latest research results on desertification control, and reaching a cooperation intention on entering the Turpan Demonstration Base, so as to help the development of the new energy industry in the dry, hot and dusty environment represented by Turpan.
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Photovoltaic sand control is difficult
Today, the global desertification land area has reached 25% of the total land area, which has a huge impact on climate change, soil and water conservation, food security, biodiversity and other environmental resources on which human beings depend. In the face of the continuous trend of desertification, desertification prevention and control has become one of the most important goals of all countries in the world.
As a major innovative measure for desertification control, photovoltaic desertification control has been pinned on high hopes since the day it was proposed. Over the years, the excellent land resources, topographic conditions, sunshine hours, and the sense of mission and honor to achieve windbreak and sand fixation and restore land functions in desert areas have continuously attracted photovoltaic practitioners to join the cause of photovoltaic desertification control.
The 480MW project in the Atacama Desert is fully supplied by JA Solar
However, focusing on the implementation level, the harsh geographical and climatic conditions such as high ultraviolet, high load, strong sand and dust, and large temperature difference in desert areas have always caused obvious damage to the photovoltaic system. For example, strong ultraviolet rays will damage the polymer packaging material of the component, resulting in the loss of sealing and light transmittance of the component; In the desert environment, there is little vegetation to cover the area, resulting in frequent strong winds, which not only increases the load pressure of the modules, but also wears the components and causes the accumulation of sand particles to cause hot spots. In addition, the large temperature difference between day and night in the desert environment puts forward higher requirements for the temperature resistance of the module.
In response to these pain points, JA Solar has been designing and developing high-performance desert modules in order to maximize the power generation and ecological benefits of photovoltaic desertification control, and finally achieve significant results. In September 2024, JA Solar won the second prize of the BRICS Industrial Innovation Competition with the best results in the photovoltaic industry for its "High-performance Desert Modules for Photovoltaic Desertification Control" project, and was included in the "BRICS Industrial Innovation Cooperation Project Library" to present targeted cases to BRICS countries.
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JA Solar's "Turning Sand into Gold"
In the planning of high-performance desert photovoltaic modules, JA Solar has comprehensively improved and optimized cell technology, packaging material selection and module system design, thus greatly realizing the use of light to control sand and turn sand into gold.
In terms of cell technology, JA Solar's self-developed high-efficiency n-type Bycium+ passivated contact cell has an open-circuit voltage of 740mV and an average efficiency of more than 26.5% in mass production, relying on the full reserve and precipitation of millisecond-level low-oxygen n-type silicon wafers, surface passivation and passivation contact technology, laser-induced sintering technology, ultra-fine gate metallization and double-sided anti-reflection coating.
Kubuqi Photovoltaic Sand Control Project in Inner Mongolia, China
In terms of packaging material selection, JA Solar has undergone scientific BOM matching to give the module the ability to fully resist the harsh desert environment. For example, JA Solar adopts a full set of high-weather-resistant packaging materials such as high-weathering double-layer coated glass on the front and back, ultraviolet weather-resistant adhesive film, new structure and high-wear-resistant frame, and junction box with heat dissipation and sand protection design, so that desert modules can calmly cope with various challenges such as ultraviolet, high temperature, storm, and temperature difference.
Finally, in terms of module system design, JA Solar has made significant progress in coping with heat spots caused by sand and dust occlusion, reducing heat-assisted light-induced attenuation, and improving power generation performance through technologies and methods such as rectangular cell & half-cell packaging, circuit design & leakage current control, high-density packaging, and LeTID control.
The first record project of the national "Shagehuang" large-scale scenery base
Based on the above three dimensions, JA Solar's desert PV modules not only have the advantages of high power, high efficiency, and high reliability, but also derive anti-ultraviolet (UV), high temperature, temperature change, and sand-resistant characteristics for the desert environment, laying a solid foundation for "turning sand into gold".
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Make your way to a desert oasis
After successfully building a high-performance desert PV module solution, JA Solar conducted a detailed testing and demonstration project to verify the feasibility of the solution. Facts have proved that all the original design intentions of JA Solar based on the use of light to control desertification have achieved the desired results.
In various routine and rigorous tests of IEC standards, JA Solar's desert PV module solution has performed excellently, successfully passing the triple stringent LeTID/hot and cold cycle/mechanical load test, which means that the solution can cope with the desert environment with high temperatures, large temperature differences, and hurricanes.
At the same time, the results of ultraviolet sequence test and sand and dust test showed that JA Solar's desert module had excellent resistance to ultraviolet radiation and wind and sand impact, and successfully passed the extreme environment test of the highest ultraviolet irradiance of 180 W/m2 (this indicator is much higher than the annual peak of the desert: ~50 W/m2), and in the free blowing sand and dust test with a sand and dust concentration of 5 g/m3 and a wind speed of > 20 m/s for 4 hours, the appearance of the module was not worn, the cell was not cracked, and the internal contact and heat dissipation were not affected.
In addition, JA Solar's desert module solution also performed well in various load tests under different installation methods, such as fixed brackets and flexible brackets, proving its all-round system compatibility. On this basis, JA Solar's desert module solutions have cooperated with major customers and third-party organizations to carry out or prepare demonstration projects in Gansu, Qujing, Baotou and other places to further accumulate data and experience for photovoltaic desertification control.
It is worth mentioning that JA Solar's plan development work has never stopped for desertification control. At present, JA Solar has proposed two major desert PV module upgrade plans with "self-cleaning" capability and stronger load performance. Among them, the "self-cleaning" solution is based on dust-proof glass and dust-proof frame, which can reduce dust adhesion of components, reduce cleaning operation and maintenance pressure, and increase power generation. The stronger load performance scheme is based on the optimization of the back glass structure and frame structure, which can ensure the stable operation of the module in strong wind weather.
Saving the desert is a difficult project, and JA Solar said that the company will continue to explore and develop desert photovoltaic module solutions with better power generation performance, lower operation and maintenance costs, and more stable operation performance, so as to open up a way back to the oasis for global desertification control. (Zhong Xinyuan)