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3 Solar Cell Efficiency Records

In Just 4 Days

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May 1st, 2015 by Smiti Mittal

What do you think about this?

Interesting

45

Not Interesting

Improving efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells takes months, sometimes years. The last few
days, however, have been very interesting as three different companies announced recordbreaking efficiencies. Two of the cells even have the same technology.
Trina Solar, one of the leading solar PV modules manufacturers, announced on April 24 that it
had set a new world record for high efficiency p-type multi-crystalline silicon PV modules.
Trina Solars Honey Plus multi-crystalline silicon module reached a new module efficiency
record of 19.14%. The efficiency was independently confirmed by the National Center of
Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT) in Wuxi, China.

On April27, Germany-based Manz announced

that it hadachieved 16% efficiency in copper
indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar modules.
This efficiency was achieved in commercially
mass-produced solar PV modules. Manz
managed to transfer the 21.7% world-record
efficiency it had achieved in laboratory cells in
September last year. The efficiency of the
modules was verified by TUV Rheinland.
On April 28, Taiwan-based TSMC Solar
announced that it achieved efficiency of 16.5% in commercially produced CIGS modules,
bettering the Manzs record made the day before. TSMC also improved upon its own previous
record of 15.7% efficiency, achieved in 2013. The efficiency record for TSMC modules was
verified by TUV SUD.
All three efficiency records seem to be associated with mass-produced solar PV modules and
there remains huge potential to further increase the efficiency. Trina Solar also holds the
world record for efficiency for lab-based multi-crystalline silicon PV modules. That record
currently stands at 20.8%.
For CIGS modules, it seems that First Solar and Manz jointly hold the record with 21.7%

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/01/3solarcellefficiencyrecordsjust4days/

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efficiency for modules produced in research labs.

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Tags: CIGS solar cell efficiency record, Manz, Multi-crystalline Solar Cell Efficiency
Record, National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product
Quality, Solar Cell Efficiency, Solar power, trina solar, TSMC Solar, TV Rheinland, TV
SD

About the Author

Smiti Mittal works as a senior solar engineer at Mott MacDonald, a reputed
engineering and management consultancy. She has conducted due diligence of
several solar PV projects in India and Southeast Asia. She has keen interest in
renewable energy, green buildings, environmental sustainability, and biofuels.
She currently resides in New Delhi, India.

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Jointhediscussion
arnenl 3daysago

"OnApril27,GermanybasedManzannouncedthatithadachieved16%efficiencyin
copperindiumgalliumselenide(CIGS)solarcells"
Oops,thatlinkisdead.Andtherecordwasforamodule,notacell.

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LuigiFreitas>arnenl 2daysago

http://www.manz.com/media/news...

The #1 Cleantech (Clean Energy + EV) Site on the

Interwebs Solar News, Wind News, EV News,

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Follow

MrL0g1c 3daysago

+1

+ 13,510

Toomanytypes,it'sbewildering:
efficiency_chart.jpg(JPEGImage,41902456pixels)
Follow@cleantechnica

31.1Kfollowers

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Ithoughtthateconomical18%efficiencypanelswe'rebeingsoldforresidentialuse
rightnow.Whatarethetopmostcommontypesinresidentialandutilityscale
markets?
WithaModuleefficiencyof18.5%andacellconversionefficiencyof22%),theHIT
N285rankshighonthelevelofefficiencyinthemarket.
1

Reply Share

Larmion>MrL0g1c 2daysago

ResidentialisdominatedbymulticrystallineSi,withasmallermarketsharefor
monocrystallineSi(called'singlecrystal'inthechart).
Thosetypeshaveabigmajorityoftheutilityscalemarkettoo,butthinfilmcells
makeastrongshowinghere.FirstSolarisdoingverywellwithitsCdTecells.
CIGSismuchsmaller,butisdoingwellinJapanandaselectfewother
markets.It'saverypromisingtechnologybecauseofitseasymanufacturing.
Multijunctioncellareextremelyexpensivecellsusedonlyforspacecraftand
othernicheapplicationswhereeverysquareinchmatters.They'renot
expectedtoenduponyourroofanytimesoom.SamestoryforGaAs.
The'EmergingPV'lumpstogetheralltechnologieswithoutaproventrack
record.Quantumdot,organicanddyecellshavelowefficienciesandother
problems,butcanbeprintedonprettymucheverysurface.Withbetterstability
andevenlowercost,theymightfindnicheapplications(thinkashirtthat
chargesyourphone).Perovskitecellsareextremelypromisingonpaper(high
efficiency,lowcost)butdegradeveryquickly.Theymightgofar,butthen
againtheyjustaswellmightnot.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/01/3solarcellefficiencyrecordsjust4days/

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againtheyjustaswellmightnot.
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zircon>Larmion 2daysago

Thatwasveryinformative,thanks.I'mcheckingtheNRELefficiencies
graphonaregularbasis,buthavegenerallyassumedalltechtobe
equallyviable,justavailableatdifferentpricepoints.

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Larmion>zircon 2daysago

Yourassumptionofalinearincreaserelationbetweencostand
efficiencyisperfectlyvalidinthe1525%efficiencyrangewhere
themassmarketpaneltechnologies(thinfilmandSi)are.
Asyoustartgoinghigherthan25%ish,youneed
engineeringtricksthatarestillhorriblyexpensive(thinkstacking
materialswithdifferentbandgapsandconcentratinglenses).
Costsgoupmuch,muchfasterthanefficienciesbecauseof
that.
Inthelowerend(saysub15%)ofthemarket,youhave
technologiesplaguedbyaveryshortlifespanandatotallackof
manufacturingexpertise.

The content produced by this site is for entertainment

purposesonly.Opinionsandcommentspublishedonthissite
may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent
the views of Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc., its owners,
sponsors,affiliates,orsubsidiaries.

Theoneexceptiontomyruleofthumbisperovskite.Thathas
enteredthe1525%rangelongbeforebecomingastable,
maturetechnology.Watchthatone.
1

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JamesWimberley 3daysago

It'sstrikingthatTrina'sproductionmoduleratingof19.14%foraPERCpolysilicon
moduleissoclosetoitspreproductionlabrecordof20.8%:only1.66%lower.The
gapfortheCIGSpeopleismuchwider.Wemaysee20%polymodulesinproduction
beforetheyearisout,butitwillbeextraordinarilydifficulttogosignificantlyhigherthan
that.IIRCthelabrecordforapolycellhasbeenstuckat23%forsometime.
Furtherprogresswillprobablyrequiretheradicallynewtechnologythebigmakersare
soreluctanttoplungeinto,forinstanceperovskiteonsilicontandemcells.Watchout
forannouncememetsfromsmartminnowslikeOxfordPhotovoltaicsandDyesol.
1

Reply Share

BtotheT 2daysago

Solar'sgonnabeawinnerprettysoononceitcanhit35cents/pW(I'dliketoseeCIGS,
perovskite,orCZTSmakea3%leap)andwegotthePowerwalltoboot.I'vegotta
admitthingsareontheupnupformyoutlookfor2016,andit'smuchneededtiming.

Reply Share

Rita>BtotheT 2daysago

If/whenmoduleshit25%efficiency,itwillbeoverFFifthepricepointis
correct.:))
Martin

Reply Share

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