A Chinese company set a new world record in solar power efficiency this week. According to the company, Suntech Power Holdings, they achieved a 15.6% conversion efficiency on “a commercial grade multi-crystalline silicon PV module.” This breaks a 15-year-old world record set by US company Sandia National Labs.
In their prototype production line, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) have successfully completed a multi-crystalline solar cell with rear side contacts. The Freiburg, Germany-based researchers will be presenting their findings in September at the 22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, September 3-7, in Milan, Italy.
IBM may become a player in the solar cell business within the next 18-24 months. The company has made overtures about solar since 1978, but recently has become more active, obtaining about a dozen patents in the area recently.
They are said to be developing both both advanced crystalline technologies and CIGS processes with the potential for very high efficiency multi-junction cells in the foreseeable future.
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