Techno-Economic Analysis of Half-Cell Modules - the Impact of Half-Cells on Module Power and Costs

Modules using halved cells are a promising development to improve module power and reduce module costs. We perform an analysis of power gains and losses within half-cell modules using the cell-to-module (CTM) methodology and find an increase in internal reflection (backsheet gains) as well as a reduction in electrical losses to be the main influence for a power gain of half-cell modules. The CTM power ratio increases by 2-4% for half-cell modules. We perform a Cost of Ownership (CoO) calculation and find the absolute costs (e) of half-cell modules to be 0.6-1.2% higher than for a comparable full cell reference. The specific costs (e/Wp) of half-cell modules are 0.81.0% lower due to the CTM power gains.