Trina Solar (TSL) Introduces High-Efficiency Solar Modules

Photovoltaic modules producer Trina Solar Limited (NYSE:TSL) announced that it has developed a high-efficiency solar module. The new "Honey Plus" multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) module contains 120 pieces of P-type mc-Si solar cells (156x78mm2) and has achieved a record aperture efficiency of 19.86%.

Research & Development

In the highly competitive solar space, Trina Solar has been consistently investing in research & development activities, resulting in the new and improved solar modules. The company announced the achievement of an efficiency record of 19.14% on a 1.515m2 aperture area in Apr 2015. The new solar modules have improved the previous efficiency conversion ratio by 3.8%.

During the second quarter of 2016, the company invested $11.7 million in research & development activities, reflecting an increase of 45.9% year over year. The ongoing expenditure on research activities will surely enable the company to develop products with even higher efficiency in the future.

Trina Solar is not the only operator in the solar industry engaged in the development of high-quality solar modules. First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR). FLSR, among others, is also working on introducing high-efficiency solar modules. Last year, the company set a record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) module conversion efficiency, having achieved 18.6% aperture efficiency for an advanced full-size module.

Efficient Modules to Lower Cost

High-efficiency solar modules are meant to boost the capability of solar modules of converting sunlight into electricity. This results in the generation of higher volume of green energy on the same area with the same number of modules.

Increasing global emphasis on lowering carbon emission is driving the demand for solar energy. China and India have each decided to add nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy to their electricity generation portfolio in an effort to reduce pollution. High-efficiency modules will go a long way in cutting generation costs of utility-scale solar projects.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Trina Solar currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the solar space include SolarCity Corporation (NASDAQ:SCTY) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YGE) .

SolarCity reported a positive earnings surprise of 4.53% in the last quarter. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Yingli Green Energy, another Zacks Rank #2 stock, delivered a positive earnings surprise of 400.00% in the last reported quarter.

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