JinkoSolar, a solar panel manufacturing giant on the world stage, has shone the news with the announcement of a large delivery. Over 220,000 Tiger NEO TOPCon bifacial 72 modules will power the Verila solar power plant – Bulgaria’s largest solar project. This is not just a big deal for Bulgaria; It is a headline-grabbing achievement on the European renewable energy scene.
On the southern slope of the Verila Mountains, near the village of Kraynits, is the 123 MW Verila Power Plant. Located at an altitude of between 700 and 1,000 meters above sea level, it covers 1,300 hectares of undulating, steep terrain, presenting both a technical challenge and an exciting opportunity.
This project is a game changer for Bulgaria as it will increase the country’s solar power capacity by a whopping 7% and represents a major step in the country’s transition to renewable energy. It’s a clear sign of progress in a region that has historically been slow to move away from fossil fuels.
Frank Niendorf, General Manager of JinkoSolar Europe, hailed the development as proof of JinkoSolar’s innovative TOPCon technology and a beacon for the transition to renewable energy across Europe. “The Verila project will become not only a Bulgarian, but also a pan-European benchmark for the transition to renewable energy,” he commented. “It is one of the largest projects ever built in Europe with bifacial TOPCon modules and JinkoSolar is very proud to be part of such an important milestone for our industry.”
TOPCon technology is a further development of PERC solar cells (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact). It features advanced passivation in the contact structure that significantly reduces recombination losses, thereby improving the overall cell efficiency.
Many manufacturers combine this technology in their product lines. The share of TOPCon modules has experienced great growth in the European market with Astronery Delivery of 154.4 MW TOPCon modules to Germany in March and Trina Solar’s plan to send over 1 GW of TOPCon modules involved in several European projects within three years.