Over the last 24 months, the top BC efficiency increased by 0.8% in absolute terms, reaching 24.8% by December 2025
The highest TOPCon efficiency improved by 1.05% in absolute terms over the reporting period, reaching 23.7% by November 2025
HJT efficiency improved by 0.48% in absolute terms over the last 2 years, reaching 23.5% by mid-2025, with company representation expanding modestly
PERC’s top efficiency remained unchanged at 21.7%, while the number of companies offering PERC modules at this level continued to decline
It is evident that module efficiency is mainly driven by cell technology, and companies often rely on advanced cell architectures such as BC, TOPCon, and HJT. The TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES 2025 analysis report summarizes the most efficient product in all commercial cell structures. Sorting efficiencies by cell technology also provides interesting insights, especially when comparing the top efficiencies side by side.
Historically, BC has been considered the efficiency leader among the commercially offered modules, and this is also reflected in our list since we began compiling it. This leadership continued into 2025.
In the BC category, AIKO has held the lead since its March 2023 debut. The company has been improving the efficiency of its BC products over time, setting new records. In the second half of 2025, it once again strengthened its lead by improving the efficiency of its top commercial BC module to 24.8% in December 2025, up from 24.4%, which it had maintained since June. In H1 2025, AIKO pushed the benchmark by improving its efficiency to 24.4% in June, breaking its previous record. At the beginning of 2024, AIKO held the top position with a 24% module, which it improved to 24.2% in May 2024. AIKO first took the lead in March 2023 with the debut of its BC module, achieving an efficiency of 23.6%. During the evaluation period of this report, i.e., the last 2 years, BC’s efficiency has increased by 0.8% in absolute terms (see Top 3 Commercial Module Efficiencies).
Unlike with BC, several companies are involved in improving the top efficiency of TOPCon commercial modules. In H1 2025, this top level was increased 3 times – first by JinkoSolar to 23.32% in July, then to 23.51% in October, and to 23.7% by Trinasolar in November 2025. Trinasolar’s product, in addition to topping the TOPCon category, coincidentally earned a spot among the top 3 in the very same month that Maxon’s BC product was delisted.
Progress was broader rather than deep in the first half of the year. There has been an increase in the number of companies at the top of the TOPCon efficiency rankings, while the absolute value has increased only once, by JA Solar to 23.2%. At the beginning of the year, the highest TOPCon efficiency was 23.2%, held by JA Solar since November 2024. In March 2025, Astronergy and DMEGC Solar joined JA Solar by commercializing modules with 23% efficiency, bringing the total number of companies at this benchmark to 3. Then, in May, Trinasolar also joined this club, increasing the number of companies to 4, before JA Solar raised the bar to 23.32% in June.
The year 2024 began with JinkoSolar leading the category with a 22.65%-efficiency module. In February, Tongwei Solar surpassed this with a module reaching 22.8%, followed by Astronergy in March. In July, both JA Solar and DMEGC Solar also reached 22.8%, creating a 4-way tie at the time. A major breakthrough came in November 2024, when JA Solar set a benchmark of 23% – a level that remained unchallenged until June 2025. Over the full course of this report’s timeline, the best TOPCon efficiency has improved by 1.05% in absolute terms.
As with BC, the progress in HJT for most of the time span of this report is spearheaded by the technology's pioneer, Huasun. The top efficiency level of 23.5% remained unchanged during H2 2025. However, the representation at this benchmark expanded to 2 in December 2025, with Risen joining Huasun by commercializing an HJT module at the technology stream’s highest-efficiency level to-date of 23.5%. Huasun achieved this benchmark in June 2025, significantly improving the efficiency of its commercial HJT modules from 23.02% at the beginning of 2024 and 23.18% in August 2024. In short, the top HJT efficiency has increased by 0.48% in absolute terms over the last 24 months.
In the PERC category, barring the first month since we started the TOP SOLAR MODULES monthly edition in January 2022, the top efficiency of 21.7% has remained unchanged. This also implies that the level remained unchanged for the report’s coverage period from January 2024 to December 2025. However, a few changes at this position are worth noting. During H2 2025, the number of companies represented at this efficiency level declined by half, from 4 to 2, following the delisting of DAS Solar’s PERC module in November and the removal of Canadian Solar’s PERC module in December 2025.
This was a continuation of the trend seen in H1 2025, where the number of companies at this efficiency level declined from 5 at the start of 2025 to 4, with Risen’s PERC module being delisted in January. The remaining companies offering PERC modules are Canadian Solar, LONGi, DAS Solar, and Suntech. The year 2024 began with 6 companies at this level, including Tongwei Solar, which was delisted in September.
Complementing this efficiency-based assessment, TaiyangNews also recognizes sustained leadership through its TOP SOLAR MODULES Badge of Excellence, awarded to manufacturers that feature in the top 10 rankings for at least 6 months in a calendar year (see TOP SOLAR MODULES 2025: Badge Of Excellence).
The text is an edited excerpt from TaiyangNews’ latest TOP SOLAR MODULES Report 2025, which can be downloaded for free here.
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