In terms of efficiency, it is interesting to note that the highest module efficiency reported in our listing has only increased by 0.1% absolute – from 22.7% to 22.8% – over the course of the first full year of rankings. However, developments in H1-2023 were phenomenal. China’s prime cell maker AIKO announced its arrival on the module scene by introducing its ABC module series based on the back-contact cell architecture in March, which was also the highest efficiency commercially available module for the month with an efficiency of 23.6%. AIKO not only held on to its top rank for the next 2 consecutive months, but it beat its own record in June by delivering another efficiency record in mid-May, again with an ABC series module with 24%efficiency. Maintaining the efficiency at the same level throughout 2023, AIKO retained its top position. Nearly a year after making history by achieving a landmark efficiency of 24% for commercial modules, the Chinese company broke its own record in H12024 by commercializing a new module with an even higher efficiency of 24.2%. In the same month, Maxeon Solar, a pioneer in back-contact technology, commercialized a module with an efficiency of24.1%. With the addition of these 2 modules, we now have 2 commercially available modules surpassing the 24% efficiency benchmark (see Key Findings And Structure Of TOP SOLAR MODULES Report)

We further analyzed how the top 3 ranks in the listing have changed over the last 2.5 years, as depicted in the above graph. At the beginning of 2024, the top 3 ranks were held by AIKO at the top with 24%efficiency, LONGi at 2nd with 23.2%, and Huasun at3rd with 23.02%. While the first 2 are IBC modules, Huasun’s HJT module made a mark by finding a place in the top 3. These ranks remained unchanged until AIKO’s latest entry in May, with an IBC product featuring an efficiency of 24.2%. The same list also included Maxeon’s 24.1% efficiency module claiming the 2nd position. This pushed LONGi’s 23.2%efficiency module to 3rd but also made the top 3ranks exclusive to IBC as was for the March-July 2023 period.

The year 2023 started with IBC modules from LONGi and Maxeon sharing the top spot with the same efficiency figure of 22.8%, and JinkoSolar’s TOPCon module with an efficiency of 22.65% at 3rd. These ranks remained the same till February. With Aiko’s ABC module entering the list in March, the top 3ranks became exclusive to IBC modules. While Aiko maintained its lead, March and April saw LONGi and Maxeon share the 2nd position. However, the rankings changed in May as LONGi upgraded the efficiency of its Hi-MO 6 module series to 23.2%, making the 2nd position its own. June marked another significant development as AIKO further elevated its product efficiency to 24%, widening the gap with its peers. The next change in the top3 ranks took place in September, when Huasun breached the IBC fortress with its HJT module with an efficiency of 23.02%, ranking 3rd on the list. The top 3 ranks remained so till the end of the year 2023 (see Growth In High Efficiency Solar Modules)..

When we started the TOP SOLAR MODULES listing in 2022, Maxeon, Jolywood, and LG held the top spots for the first 2 months with respective efficiencies of 22.7%, 22.53%, and 22.3%. While products from Maxeon and LG were based on IBC, Jolywood’s module was based on TOPCon. There were a couple of developments in the March 2022listing: Maxeon increased the efficiency of its module by 0.1% absolute to 22.8%, and LG exited the solar module supply business. As a result, JinkoSolar’s TOPCon module with 22.6% efficiency climbed up to the 3rd position. While there was no change in April, Canadian Solar commercialized its HJT module with22.5% efficiency, replacing JinkoSolar’s product. However, the following month, Huasun launch edits HJT module with 22.53% efficiency, the same as Jolywood’s product, resulting in both products sharing the 2nd rank that remained unchanged until August. In September 2022, JinkoSolar launch edits next-generation TOPCon product with a rated efficiency of 22.65%, which qualified for the 2ndposition, pushing products from Jolywood and Huasun down by a rank. The next month, LONGi introduced its Hi-MO 6 module series based on its proprietary HPBC back contact technology, which directly claimed the top spot, sharing it with Maxeon and pushing JinkoSolar’s product to 3rd. This ranking was maintained until the end of 2022.

TaiyangNews TOP MODULES H1-2024 report summarizes the key findings from over 30 editions published between early 2022 and June 2024. Download the free report here.