SolarWorld again broke the conversion efficiency record of P-type mono PERC cells by announcing the 22.04% efficiency on January 13. The record has been confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE and is likely to be put into mass production.
In July 2015, SolarWorld set a 21.7% efficiency record for P-type mono PERC cells. The new 22.04% record was an improvement grounding on the company’s own PERC technology. According to SolarWorld, the high-efficiency PERC cell was produced through advanced conventional PERC processes so it can be transferred into mass production easier while sustaining the efficiency at around 22%.
In addition, the company was looking to increase efficiency of the P-type mono PERC cells to 22.5% by 2017.
The world record of the same cell technology was set by Trina Solar with a 22.13% conversion efficiency rate.
SolarWorld held a presentation at its headquarters in Germany for the record release. According to PV Magazine’s report, Holger Neuhaus, CEO of SolarWorld Innovations, pointed that the company has set aside 50MW of production capacity for the new efficiency, and the capacity could be quickly ramped up to 300MW. The biggest challenge of converting PERC into massive production is to reduce the LID rate.
At the same presentation, SolarWorld unveiled other technologies included busbar-less modules with half cells and bifacial PV modules.