| Industry | Energy |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 4, 2010 [1] |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Photovoltaic panels |
Number of employees | 220 (2022) |
| Website | 3sun.com |
3Sun is a photovoltaic panel factory established in 2010 in Catania, Italy. In 2015, Enel Green Power became the company's sole shareholder. [2] 3Sun was established as a joint venture by Enel Green Power, Sharp Corporation, and STMicroelectronics, each owning 33% of 3Sun. [3] [4] Between 2011 and 2014, 3Sun built a photovoltaic cell and module plant in Catania that employed thin-layer technology. [5] Sharp contributes the amorphous silicon multi-junction thin-film technology, Enel Green Power manages the commercial distribution, and STMicroelectronics provides personnel specialized in processes and research and development. [6] On March 6, 2015, Enel Green Power has been the sole owner of 3Sun. [2] [7]
In August 2018, the manufacturing of Heterojunction Technology (HJT) bifacial panels began, making 3Sun the world's most automated plant in the sector, with the ability to operate continuously. The first HJT cells were produced in February 2019 and mass production began in August 2019. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
In April 2022, Enel Green Power signed a grant agreement with the European Commission for subsidized financing, as part of the EU's first Innovation Fund call for large-scale projects, contributing to the development of the TANGO (iTaliAN pv Giga factOry) project. [13] [14] This involves the construction of an industrial-scale production facility for the manufacturing of innovative, sustainable and high-performance photovoltaic (PV) modules at the 3Sun solar panel factory in Catania. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors.
In the 19th century, it was observed that the sunlight striking certain materials generates detectable electric current – the photoelectric effect. This discovery laid the foundation for solar cells. Solar cells have gone on to be used in many applications. They have historically been used in situations where electrical power from the grid was unavailable.
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon. It is a form of photoelectric cell, defined as a device whose electrical characteristics, such as current, voltage, or resistance, vary when exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are often the electrical building blocks of photovoltaic modules, known colloquially as solar panels. The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.
A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that generate electrons when exposed to light. The electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct current (DC) electricity, which can be used to power various devices or be stored in batteries. Solar panels are also known as solar cell panels, solar electric panels, or PV modules.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are photovoltaic materials that are used to replace conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or facades. They are increasingly being incorporated into the construction of new buildings as a principal or ancillary source of electrical power, although existing buildings may be retrofitted with similar technology. The advantage of integrated photovoltaics over more common non-integrated systems is that the initial cost can be offset by reducing the amount spent on building materials and labor that would normally be used to construct the part of the building that the BIPV modules replace. In addition, BIPV allows for more widespread solar adoption when the building's aesthetics matter and traditional rack-mounted solar panels would disrupt the intended look of the building.
Sharp Solar, a subsidiary of Sharp Electronics, is a solar energy products company owned by Sharp Corporation and based in Osaka, Japan.
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.
Founded in 1981 Isofoton was a Spanish leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and modules that had its HQ in Málaga and a distribution network present in over 60 countries. It started as a spin-off of the pioneering research programme of the Institute of Solar Energy of the Technical University of Madrid (IES-UPM) in the field of silicon bifacial solar cells, today a mainstream solar cell technology. In fact, it was the very first factory in the world to mass produce, market and install this type of solar cell technology. By 1987 it abandoned manufacturing of bifacials and transitioned to conventional monofacial solar cells, still, it forged ahead successfully and from 2000 to 2005 it ranked among the top 10 PV manufacturers in the world. At its peak, by 2007, Isofoton employed 1142 people, produced 103MW and had an annual turnover of 414 million euros. In 2014 it filed for bankruptcy, as happened with almost all of the European and US PV manufacturers operating at the time, mainly due to the price pressure of a new wave of Chinese manufacturers.
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery.
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaics is a photovoltaic (PV) technology based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. Cadmium telluride PV is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi-kilowatt systems.
Between 1992 and 2022, the worldwide usage of photovoltaics (PV) increased exponentially. During this period, it evolved from a niche market of small-scale applications to a mainstream electricity source.
Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) Is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon, or monocrystalline silicon. Crystalline silicon is the dominant semiconducting material used in photovoltaic technology for the production of solar cells. These cells are assembled into solar panels as part of a photovoltaic system to generate solar power from sunlight.
Photovoltaic mounting systems are used to fix solar panels on surfaces like roofs, building facades, or the ground. These mounting systems generally enable retrofitting of solar panels on roofs or as part of the structure of the building. As the relative costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules has dropped, the costs of the racks have become more important and for small PV systems can be the most expensive material cost. Due to these trends, there has been an explosion of new racking trends. These include non-optimal orientations and tilt angles, new types of roof-mounts, ground mounts, canopies, building integrated, shading, vertical mounted and fencing systems.
Solar energy – radiant light and heat from the sun. It has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar architecture, which can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems that the world now faces.
In 2022 Chile produced about 18% of its electricity from solar power, up from 7% in 2018. As of 2022, Chile produces the highest percentage of its electricity from solar in the world. At the end of 2021 Chile was ranked 22nd in the world in terms of installed solar energy.
Hanergy Holding Group Ltd. (Hanergy) is a Chinese multinational company headquartered in Beijing. The company is focusing on thin-film solar value chain, including manufacturing and solar parks development. It also owns the Jinanqiao Hydroelectric Power Station and two wind farms.
LONGi Green Energy Technology Co. Ltd. or LONGi Group (隆基股份), formerly Xi'an Longi Silicon Materials Corporation, is a Chinese photovoltaics company, a major manufacturer of solar modules and a developer of solar power projects.
A bifacial solar cell (BSC) is any photovoltaic solar cell that can produce electrical energy when illuminated on both its surfaces, front or rear. In contrast, monofacial solar cells produce electrical energy only when photons impinge on their front sides. Efficiency of bifacial solar cells, defined as the ratio of incident luminous power to generated electrical power, is measured independently for the front and rear surfaces under one or several suns (1 sun = 1000W/m2). The bifaciality factor (%) is defined as the ratio of rear efficiency in relation to the front efficiency subject to the same irradiance.
Heterojunction solar cells (HJT), variously known as Silicon heterojunctions (SHJ) or Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin Layer (HIT), are a family of photovoltaic cell technologies based on a heterojunction formed between semiconductors with dissimilar band gaps. They are a hybrid technology, combining aspects of conventional crystalline solar cells with thin-film solar cells. As of 2023, Silicon heterojunction architecture has the highest cell efficiency for commercial-sized silicon solar cells. In 2022–2024, SHJ cells are expected to overtake Aluminium Back surface field (Al-BSF) solar cells in market share to become the second-most adopted commercial solar cell technology after PERC/TOPCon, increasing to nearly 20% by 2032.
