Why has Astronergy moved to a quarter-cut cell design for its new ASTRO N7 Pro PV modules?

Baohua He: Against the backdrop of the photovoltaic industry's continuous pursuit of higher power and LCOE, multi-cut technology is a key pathway to enhance module performance. By subdividing the circuit into shorter and more independent branches, quarter-cut cell technology reduces resistive losses while limiting the impact of partial shading to a minimal range.

With quarter-cut cell technology, we are able to significantly increase module power up to 670 W and efficiency up to 24.8%, while keeping the electrical compatibility with previous generations. This means customers don’t need to replace existing inverters or redesign their string layouts, which helps minimize additional costs when upgrading the system.

What other advances does Astronergy’s TOPCon 5.0+ technology bring to the new modules?

Baohua He: Through precision process optimizations such as Astronergy Surface Passivation (ASP), Polyfinger technology, and Super Narrow Opening Print (SNOP), metal contact recombination is substantially reduced, and the cell's open-circuit voltage and fill factor are enhanced, achieving a cell conversion efficiency of up to 24.8%. Furthermore, benefiting from the structural advantages of TOPCon cells, ASTRO N7 Pro modules demonstrate significant power generation advantages under low-light conditions such as dawn and dusk, effectively extending daily productive hours. Additionally, ASTRO N7 Pro boasts a high bifaciality rate of 85% (±5%), with a rear-side power gain of up to 1-3%. This enables the rear side to capture more reflected light, especially on snow-covered, sandy, and other highly reflective ground surfaces.

In addition to advancements in cell technology and quarter-cut design, ASTRO N7 Pro has optimized and innovated its module layout. It adopts the industry’s first low-stress, gapless flexible interconnection design, achieving high-density encapsulation and increasing the overall active solar area by 0.81%. This maximizes the utilization of incidental sunlight, improving module efficiency and power density.