Solar Frontier 23.35% CIS World Record

• Solar Frontier of Japan has reported 23.35% conversion efficiency for a thin-film solar cell
• It achieved the efficiency on a 1 cm² cell using cadmium (Cd)-free CIS technology
• Results of this joint research conducted with NEDO are a 0.4% point improvement over Solar Frontier's previous conversion efficiency record of 22.9%

Solar Frontier KK , a Japanese copper indium selenium (CIS) thin-film solar modules manufacturer and integrated system solutions provider has announced a 23.35% conversion efficiency for a 1 cm² lab-size thin-film solar cell using cadmium (Cd)-free CIS technology. It carried out this research with the National Research and Development Agency's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.

The result was independently verified by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in November 2018.

The new record is a 0.4% absolute improvement over its 22.9% efficiency record from November 2017. The company emphasised this sets a world record for all CIS thin-film solar cell types.

It attributes the achievement to the research and development of CIS absorber engineering and enhanced surface treatment of the absorber, used with the company's own proprietary Cd-free CIS thin-film technology. Making performance improvements to each of the technologies, Solar Frontier reached its new world record by combining these under optimal conditions, it said