Key takeaways:
TaiyangNews’ report highlights how TOPCon, BC, and HJT technologies are evolving through integrated cell, module, and material innovations
Efficiency improvements are increasingly coming from module layouts, metallization, and BOM optimization alongside cell-level advances
Back contact technologies continue to lead commercial efficiency benchmarks, while TOPCon and HJT pursue further optimization pathways
Solar cell and module efficiencies have been steadily rising year after year, driven by continuous improvements across technologies. At the same time, this progress also means that cell architectures are inching closer to their practical limits, and avenues for further optimization are limited. Efficiency gains today no longer come solely from the cell. Increasingly, meaningful performance gains are being unlocked through module design layout strategies combined with innovations in materials, which are playing an equally important role in advancing performance. This underscores a more integrated approach to technology development.
Today’s PV technology landscape reflects a relatively mature ecosystem, with 3 cell architectures coexisting in large-scale commercial production – of course, each enjoying a different stature and share in global production. TOPCon – the industry’s workhorse – offers a strong balance between performance, costs, and manufacturability. And despite its stature, the architecture is not standing still. It is now evolving into what many refer to as TOPCon+, featuring a series of innovative optimizations at the cell and module levels.
Improvements at the cell level include high-level rear-surface engineering with the adoption of the poly-finger concept and optimized metallization with advanced printing technologies. Edge passivation is an important process optimization step implemented at the cell level whose benefits become particularly evident at the module level. Complementing other
cell-level developments, edge passivation enables a multi-cut layout at the module level, which helps reduce electrical losses while improving overall module performance.
Yet, in pursuit of further higher efficiencies, the industry is simultaneously advancing back-contact (BC) technologies, which currently set the commercial performance benchmarks with module efficiencies reaching up to 24.8% and a clear roadmap to soon exceed even 25%. Novel architectures featuring hybrid contact passivation schemes that adapt the TOPCon structure for n-type and the heterojunction (HJT) structure for p-type, achieving world-record cell efficiencies, have also entered commercial production. These architectures have been further tweaked to be bifacial. At the module level, BC manufacturers are increasingly adopting zero-busbar (0BB) layouts to improve performance while reducing silver consumption. In parallel, silver-free metallization is a hot topic in the BC stream.
HJT, while comparatively less dominant in deployment, continues to be a subject of incremental optimization in areas such as low-silver-content metallization and reduced indium usage. The module layout is optimized with BOM to support east-west installations requiring high bifaciality. HJT currently leads module power ratings, with commercial products now reaching up to 740 W.
This growing technological maturity is also reflected in the materials space. After all, solar is not just about power; reliability is important too. Manufacturers are increasingly tailoring their BOM to support the development of application-specific modules, optimized for different operating conditions and use cases. Taken together, these developments fit into a narrative of a more integrated phase of innovation, where cell architecture, module design, and materials engineering are evolving in parallel.
At TaiyangNews, we have our finger on the pulse of technological change, capturing every meaningful development through our in-depth reports and insightful virtual conferences. These publications and forums typically delve deeply into various aspects of each technology, providing a panoramic view of each topic.
The TaiyangNews Cell and Module Technology Trends and Outlook report takes a different approach. Here, we take a step back to look at the bigger picture, bringing together the most important developments across the PV technology space. The report highlights the key trends driving the 3 mainstream cell technologies – TOPCon, BC, and HJT – and provides a concise yet comprehensive view of key trends at the cell and module levels, as well as on the material front.
The text is an edited excerpt from TaiyangNews’ latest report on Cell & Module Technologies Trends 2026, which can be downloaded for free here.