Maxwell Technologies and REC Group have inked a significant equipment supply agreement. The deal includes the provision of hardware for REC’s most recent heterojunction technology (HJT) breakthrough, REC Alpha Pure-R, which was unveiled at this year’s Intersolar Europe.
This supply arrangement comes after Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest private sector enterprise, bought REC last December.
REC and Maxwell have had a close relationship since 2017 when REC first launched its N-Peak product and used Maxwell’s print line for its TOPCon cells. Maxwell was once again REC’s first choice for print line equipment when it launched its award-winning HJT Alpha Series in 2019. Over the past two and half years, the two companies have successfully expanded their collaboration on HJT cell and module equipment, the key foundation for the new REC Alpha Pure-R Series.
Shankar G. Sridhara, CTO at REC Group comments: “For REC, this supply agreement means we have a reliable partner with a cost-effective and aggressive R&D roadmap, well matching our future product portfolio. With a strong manufacturing capacity, Maxwell is also able to meet REC’s aggressive ambition to become a multi-GW HJT player in the solar industry in the coming years.”
Jian Zhou, Chairman of Maxwell Technologies, said, “We’re delighted to cooperate with REC once again and pleased that our HJT equipment has helped REC to achieve HJT innovation. As a leading manufacturer of HJT equipment in the solar industry, Maxwell has always been committed to promoting the development of HJT technology and its mass-production applications. REC’s choice allows us to see a brighter prospect of global HJT market. In the future, we will continue to strengthen our R&D capability to provide the more advanced and improved HJT manufacturing turn-key solution to customers.”
The world’s highest-power solar panel for residential installations using G12 HJT cells, the REC Alpha Pure-R Series, was introduced at Intersolar Europe 2022 and represents REC’s most daring innovation to date. It has big G12 half-cut HJT cells in a patented panel design that allows for 430 Wp of power output while keeping the module’s size under two square meters. The REC Alpha Pure-R hits the sweet spot in terms of power output, size, and environmental impact because it is lead-free and RoHS compliant. With the start of production in September at REC’s Singapore facility using Maxwell’s machinery, the HJT Alpha capacity of REC increased from 600 MW to 1.2 GW. Even previously, REC had a large number of orders from clients in the US, Europe, and Asia, proving its popularity.