TOPCon Technology Leads In High-Efficiency Progress

Different cell technologies have taken varied paths in advancing module efficiencies, as tracked in the TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES Analysis H1-2025. Beyond technology shares, the focus here is on efficiency developments, showing how each architecture has progressed over time. The previous article examined Heterojunction (HJT) technology, while this one turns to TOPCon (see HJT Technology Development From 2023 To H1-2025).

The efficiency range for TOPCon products has continued to improve steadily over the past 2.5 years. In H1 2025, the upper limit of the TOPCon band was raised twice – first to 23.1% in March, and then to 23.2% in June – marking a 0.2% absolute gain within just half a year. However, the lower limit remained unchanged at 22.1% throughout the period, and in fact, all through 2024 (see TOP SOLAR MODULES Listing – June 2025).

The efficiency range for the TOPCon stream changed twice in 2024, and that too at the upper limit. The best TOPCon efficiency was 22.65% in January, improved to 22.8% in February, and then improved to 23% in November. The lower limit, however, remained the same at 22.1% throughout the year. On the other hand, the highest level in 2023 remained at 22.65% all along the year, while the bottom limit changed 4 times. The first change was in April, from 21.9% to 22%, then improving marginally to 22.05% in June. The level dropped slightly to 22.02% the next month and remained so till November, before rising to 22.1%.

Going into product-level details, TOPCon was the most active technology in terms of efficiency upgrades. The most prominent change in the first half of 2025 was JA Solar’s commercialization of a TOPCon module with 23.2% efficiency – a new benchmark for the technology in the commercial space, achieved in June 2025. Among earlier developments, Trinasolar improved the top efficiency of its commercial TOPCon modules by 0.5% absolute, from 22.5% to 23% in May. In March, 2 other companies also made notable gains – DMEGC Solar increased its product efficiency from 22.8% to 23%, while Astronergy raised the top efficiency of its commercial TOPCon module from 22.9% to 23%.

In January 2024, the TOPCon section was led by JinkoSolar’s 21.65% module, a position it had held since September 2022. Astronergy’s TOPCon module also shared this spot with the same efficiency. As to the major changes in January, DMEGC Solar joined in at the 22.5% level, where a bulk of 6 TOPCon products were already listed in December 2023. With the addition of DMEGC Solar, the count increased to 7. DMEGC Solar’s addition came about with it increasing its best TOPCon module’s efficiency by 0.05% absolute from the December level of 22.45%. In February, Tongwei Solar raised the bar to 22.8%, breaking through the 22.65% barrier set by JinkoSolar for over a year. In March, Astronergy’s best TOPCon module also reached the same level, jumping from its previous highest level of 22.65%. DMEGC Solar also improved its module’s best efficiency to 22.6% from 22.5%. In May, there were 2 changes in the TOPCon section for TOP SOLAR MODULES: EGING PV improved the efficiency from 22.45% to 22.5%, and Kalyon PV’s TOPCon module entered our list with an efficiency of 22.38%. While there was no change in June, July saw a further increase in TOPCon efficiency level to 22.8%, attained by JA Solar’s product. The next 3 months saw no activity from the TOPCon section, but 3 changes took place in November. First, the top efficiency increased once again, this time by JA Solar, to the 23% milestone. This was followed by Astronergy, tuning up its best commercial TOPCon module efficiency by 0.1% absolute to 22.9%. The third change was from SolarSpace, increasing its best TOPCon product efficiency from 22.45% to 22.65%. These figures continued into December unchanged (see TOPCon Technology Share Leads In TOP SOLAR MODULES).

In 2023, JinkoSolar’s claim to the TOPCon throne with 22.65% efficiency was unopposed for the entire year. The next highest efficiency level of 22.53% belonged to Jolywood; while there were changes elsewhere, Jolywood continued at this level not only through 2023 but also in 2024. The other products from this technology stream to feature in January 2023 were: JA Solar’s 22.4% efficiency module, 22.1% efficiency products from DAS Solar and Astronergy, a 22.05% efficiency module from EGING PV, Qcells at 22%, and Trinasolar with its 21.9% efficiency module.

The next change was in March, with Canadian Solar entering the list with a 22.3% model, which was improved only once in June to 22.5%. Tongwei Solar also entered in March with its 22.4% efficiency TOPCon module, which it improved the very next month to 22.5% and remained at this level for the rest of the year. A third change to occur in March was Astronergy improving its TOPCon product efficiency from 22.1% to 22.4%. The company improved the efficiency of its best TOPCon offering 3 more times over the rest of the year – 22.5% in May, 22.6% in September, and 22.65% in December to share the top spot in this category with JinkoSolar.

While there were no new entries in April, a few companies improved the top efficiencies of their TOPCon products. One of them was JA Solar, improving the efficiency of its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro series from 22.4% to 22.5%, which stayed at this level for the rest of the year. Trinasolar also improved the efficiency of its product first to 22.3% from 21.9%, and again in June to 22.5%, to remain there for the rest of the year. DAS Solar followed the same path, improving the efficiency to 22.3% in April, but from a higher level of 22.1%, and staying at 22.3% for a little while before jumping to 22.5% in July. DMEGC Solar was the new company to enter the TOPCon segment in June with 22.45%, which was improved to 22.45% the very next month – the last change for the year.

In July, 5 companies were added with their TOPCon products, all featuring above 22% efficiency. Qn-SOLAR, Suntech, and GCL SI maintained their efficiencies of 22.45%, 22.4%, and 22.3%, respectively, without changes until December. Runergy, entering with 22.4%, improved to 22.5% in December, while SolarSpace, initially at 22.02%, upgraded to 22.45% in the same timeline. In addition to these new companies added to the list, EGING also improved the efficiency of its product from 22.05% first to 22.44% in June, and then again marginally to 22.45% in July without any changes till December. URECO joined in August with 22.45% efficiency, which remained the same until the end of the year. In October, Yingli and CECEP joined with 22.36% and 22.1%, respectively, and their efficiencies remained unchanged for the next 2 months.

This text is an edited excerpt from the TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES H1-2025 report, which can be downloaded for free here.