Monday, March 3, 2014

2 Thin-Film Solar Technologies Broke Efficiency Records Again

On 25th February 2014, First Solar, one of the world’s largest thin-film PV companies, announced that it has set a world record for its cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV cells. The cell has achieved 20.4% of conversion efficiency. It bests the previous record of 19.6% efficiency set by GE Global Research in 2013.

2 days later, on 27th February, Stion announced that it has achieved a 23.2% of efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film cell.

Of course, the efficiencies quoted above are for the cells. When add multiple cells together to form solar panel/module, the efficiency will drop few percent. But, it is still a big breakthrough for thin-film technology which closing the gap between silicon-based solar technology.

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