Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer Trina Solar claims to have set a new world record for multi-crystalline silicon PV module efficiency.
The company’s in-house research and development facility — State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology of China, has set the record for n-type multi-crystalline silicon PV modules.
Trina’s Honey Plus multi-crystalline silicon module with an aperture of 1.515 square meters recorded efficiency of 19.14 percent.
It was independently confirmed by the National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT) in Wuxi, China, Trina has reported in its statement.
The test module comprised 60 of the high-efficiency cells (156×156 millimeter squared) fabricated with technologies including back surface passivation, local back surface field and half-cell module technologies developed by Trina.
Honey Plus solar cells, the brand of Trina’s PERC solar cells, have gone into mass production and will incorporate half-cell module technology in the future, the statement said.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a multi-crystalline Silicon PV module has reached an efficiency above 19 percent,” Dr Pierre Verlinden, the vice-president and chief scientist of Trina Solar said.
“It demonstrates that multi-crystalline Silicon PV modules can reach levels of efficiency that were considered the preserve of cells such as mono-crystalline IBC or heterojunction cells.”
Ajith Kumar S