Tongwei is collaborating with GS-Solar and Golden Solar to develop a large-scale manufacturing facility for hybrid heterojunction back-contact (HBC) solar cells that combine heterojunction passivation, tunneling oxide and polysilicon structures used in TOPCon designs, and the grid-free front-side architecture typical of back-contact technologies.
Tongwei has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Gold Stone (Fujian) Energy Co Ltd (GS-Solar) and Golden Solar (Quanzhou) New Energy Technology Co Ltd developing a mass production facility for hybrid heterojunction back-contact (HBC) solar cells.
The agreement was signed on March 18, 2026 at Golden Solar’s headquarters in Quanzhou. The partners plan to collaborate across the entire value chain, including technology development, production and process optimization. The location and planned capacity of the plant have not been disclosed, but the companies say it is intended for large-scale commercialization.
Under the agreement, Tongwei Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tongweiwill provide production capacity, manufacturing facilities, supply chain resources and operations management. GS-Solar will act as a technology provider and will contribute to the design of hybrid HBC cells, GW-scale integrated equipment and solutions for mass production processes. Golden Solar will provide patents, commissioning experience and process support.
The companies said they will establish a coordination mechanism to optimize production processes, reduce production costs and improve conversion efficiency as they move towards industrial implementation.
Central to the collaboration is GS-Solar’s hybrid HBC technology, which combines several cell concepts. The design builds on the HBC architecture and integrates heterojunction passivation of HJT cells, tunneling oxide and polysilicon structures associated with TOPCon, and a grid-free front design typical of back-contact technologies. The approach aims to balance high efficiency with lower production costs and simplified processing.
GS-Solar reported a laboratory conversion efficiency of 27.08% for the technology in March 2023, rising to 27.62% in November 2024, the company said.
The collaboration brings Tongwei, one of the world’s largest solar cell manufacturers, into the hybrid HBC segment and could accelerate the transition from laboratory-scale development to industrial production. It also expands Tongwei’s technology portfolio, which includes TOPCon, HJT, BC and TBC-related approaches.
GS-Solar has previously announced similar partnerships. In September 2024, an entity linked to GS-Solar and Golden Solar (Quanzhou) collaborated with Long to upgrade four PERC production lines in Xi’an to HBC technology. In April 2025, GS-Solar and Golden Solar (Quanzhou) reached an agreement with a subsidiary of YES solar energy in Yiwu to develop a 4 GW hybrid HBC upgrade project using existing PERC capacity. The companies said the JA Solar-linked project is one of the largest planned HBC mass production projects in the world.
These partnerships indicate that GS-Solar is positioning itself as a supplier of technology and equipment for the commercialization of hybrid HBC, combining intellectual property, manufacturing equipment and process expertise.
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