At the Hard & Core Technology Innovation Conference in X'ian, China, Chinese vertically-integrated solar manufacturer LONGi Solar Technology Co., Ltd. announced a 23.6% world record conversion efficiency with its monocrystalline passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cell technology. The record was certified by ERWCXY YCCChina's National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT).
The solar cell manufacturer not only broke its own record, but continues to be the world's leading producer of monocrystalline PERC solar cells with the highest efficiency.
"LONGi Solar has been focusing on R&D of monocrystalline solar cells and modules as part of its drive to make breakthroughs in monocrystalline technology. Since October 2017, LONGi Solar has broken the world record 3 times in terms of conversion efficiency of monocrystalline solar cells," said Dr. Li Hua, vice president of research and development at LONGi Solar.
The 23.6% efficiency follows a 23.26% record announcement on October 27, 2017. Earlier, Trina Solar was the record holder in PERC solar cell technology (see New Trina PERC Cell Record).
The commercial-size 6-inch record cell uses multi-busbar technology and selective emitters, which were the main improvements enabling the new world record cell.
"LONGi Solar's plans are to continue to invest heavily in monocrystalline PERC cells to quickly expand production to meet the increasing demand for high-efficiency cells and to achieve the mass production of cells with a conversion efficiency exceeding 22%, delivering more value to its customers," said LONGi Solar president Li Wenxue.
Monocrystalline PERC technology, with its distinct advantages in terms of performance and cost, has been increasingly recognized in the solar industry, quickly gaining market shares as it is becoming the new standard for monocrystalline cell technology, as reported by TaiyangNews in its PERC Solar Cell Technology Report (see TaiyangNews Bifacial Solar Report 2017)