On November 19, 2022, China’s solar giant LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LONGi) announces in Xi’an, Shaanxi, that the company has achieved a new breakthrough efficiency of its silicon solar cells. According to the latest certification report of Institut für Solarenergieforschung in Hameln (ISFH), the company has set a new world record efficiency at 26.81% for its HJT silicon solar cells on full-size silicon wafers through mass production.
At the ceremony, Martin Green, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who is known as the ‘Father of photovoltaics’, announced via video that 26.81% is currently the world’s highest silicon solar cells efficiency record to date. “This outstanding achievement will be include in the next version of efficiency tables that published in the progress in photovoltaics.” He said, via the video. As far we know, this is the latest world record since a Japanese company set the efficiency at 26.7% in 2017. This is the first time in the history of photovoltaic industry that a Chinese solar technology company has set the world record for silicon solar cell efficiency.
“Improving the efficiency and reducing the LCOE (levelized cost of energy) is the eternal theme of the development of photovoltaic industry. Solar cell efficiency is the beacon of photovoltaic technology innovation. Every 0.01% improvement in solar cell conversion efficiency requires enormous efforts. In particular, crystalline silicon solar cells account for nearly 95% of the current photovoltaic market, so the ultimate efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells also shows the development potential and direction of the photovoltaic industry, which is of great significance in the entire photovoltaic industry,” said Li Zhenguo, Founder and President of LONGi, while speaking at the event.
Dr.Xu Xixiang, Vice President of LONGi Central R&D Institute, said that breaking the world record was a milestone in the history of China’s photovoltaic industry, which not only fully demonstrated the scientific and technological strength of China’s photovoltaic enterprises in silicon solar cell manufacturing, but also strongly boosted China’s confidence and determination to become a major player in the world in more scientific and technological fields.
Since June 2021, LONGi’s R&D team has continuously broken the world record of HJT solar cell conversion efficiency, increasing it from 25.26% to 26.81%, realizing the miracle of 1.55% increase in one year and four months. In particular, in just over a month, LONGi broke a new world record for silicon solar cell conversion efficiency with 26.74%, 26.78% and 26.81% respectively, which further affirmed LONGi’s determination to continuously focus on R&D investment and promote industrial progress. This mature technology and the world record of large-size silicon wafers are also very rare in the entire history of photovoltaic technology.
LONGi’s new world record in silicon solar cell conversion efficiency has received attention from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Energy Transformation Commission (ETC), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and industry associations like Smart Energy Council (SEC) in Australia, Renewables in Africa and Association of Chile Energy Solar. The approach and enthusiasm of LONGi and Chinese solar enterprises to continuously focus on and push the boundaries have also been completely acknowledged by the world stage.
