China Sunergy has reportedly set a record for monocrystalline solar cell efficiency. The new record, 20.26%, has been verified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).
I’ll admit that I’m a little confused, since EPFL set an amorphous and monocrystalline silicon solar cell efficiency record of 21.4% in September 2012. I guess the difference with the China Sunergy record is that these are non-amorphous monocrystalline solar cells (though, that wasn’t specified)? Or perhaps it is that China Sunergy is actually going to produce these solar cells for the commercial market? Or, there’s a chance that it’s simply the highest solar cell conversion efficiency amongst Chinese PV companies. The press release notes: “The new conversion efficiency record of 20.26% was confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE as the leading level among all photovoltaic enterprises in China and has surpassed the benchmark of 20% mono-crystalline cells conversion efficiency set by the eight development guidelines issued by the State Council for China’s photovoltaic industry inJuly 2013.”
Reportedly, mass production of these solar cells is to start by the end of 2014 at a 70 MW capacity solar cell production line. Furthermore, it has a module production line with a capacity of 15 MW.
“The new generation of high-efficient mono-crystalline solar cells combines the Company’s Waratah and QSAR cell technology in a new design structure that enables it to achieve high conversion efficiency using normal wafers,” the China Sunergy press release also noted.
Dr. Jianhua Zhao, Chief Technology Officer of China Sunergy, said, “As one of the key members for China’s 863 program in developing and commercializing high-efficient and low-cost crystalline silicon solar cells, we are committed to developing cutting-edge and strategic solar technologies. We are proud of our record achievement, and aim to promptly deploy this new breakthrough for large-scale commercial application. Our success validates the hard work and diligence of our dedicated R&D team, and we remain determined to further advance the state of the art and to foster healthy and sustainable development for solar energy.”
