All solar cell efficiencies at a glance – update – pv magazine International

July 3, 2024 Emiliano Bellini

An international research group led by Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia has published version 64 of the “solar cell efficiency tables” Progress in photovoltaics.

The researchers said they have added 19 new results to the new tables since December.

There has been significant progress across the full range of solar cell technologies, including silicon, chalcogenide, organic and perovskite cells.

The most important new development is a 27.3%-efficient n-type silicon interdigitated-back-contact (HBC) heterojunction solar cell unveiled by Chinese manufacturer Longi in late May. “The record-breaking silicon cell has both polar contacts on its rear surface, reducing losses by having no contacts on the front illuminated surface,” the paper says. “An all-laser patterning process is used to achieve the more complex rear-surface patterning required for such devices.”

Another result is the 34.2% power conversion efficiency that Longi achieved in April for its perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell, while the updated value of 34.6% achieved in May was a reserve value and announced at the Shanghai New Energy Conference (SNEC) in June.

Also on the list were JA Solar’s 25.6% efficient large-area TOPCon cell, Longi’s 26.8% efficient large-area silicon cell, and the 24.9% efficient cell achieved by Singaporean company Maxeon in its IBC solar module.

In addition, the tables now include the 22.6% efficiency that US company First Solar has achieved for a 0.45 cm2 cadmium telluride (CdTe) cell, as well as several other thin-film solar cells based on kesterite (CZTSSe) or copper, gallium, indium, diselenide (CIGS). They include the 15% efficiency milestone for both small-area CZTSSe cells manufactured by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a full-size 0.8 m2 perovskite module manufactured by Microquanta, founded by former UNSW students.

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In the December version of the 63 tables, the researchers added six new results. The group noted big improvements in all cell categories since 1993, when the tables were first published.

The research group includes scientists from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems and the Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH) in Germany, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory.