Earlier this month, Panasonic Corporation announced it had achieved a conversion efficiency of 25.6% in a HIT solar cell, breaking its own world record for crystalline silicon-based solar cells.
The previous record, established last year by the company, was 24.7%.
The high conversion efficiency was achieved at a research level using a HIT solar cell of a practical size (cell area: 143.7 cm²) and in a cell of a larger size than that of last year.
Panasonic says the new record was made possible by further development of Panasonic’s proprietary heterojunction technology; along with adopting a back-contact solar cell structure, which allows the more efficient utilization of sunlight. Gains were made in three areas – by reducing recombination, optical and resistance loss.
“Going forward, Panasonic will continue to pursue technology development of its HIT solar cells, aimed at realizing higher efficiency, lower costs and the more efficient use of resources, and will work towards mass production,” the company stated.
Panasonic HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar panels are comprised of solar cells composed of a monocrystalline silicon wafer surrounded by very thin amorphous silicon layers. The structure of the cells makes them particularly tolerant to high temperatures such as we experience in Australia.
Panasonic HIT solar panels currently commercially available have an impressive panel conversion efficiency of 18.6% (cell efficiency of 21.1%). The HIT’s comparatively smaller size means more solar power can be harvested from a given area; making better use of valuable rooftop real estate.
A gruelling Long-Term Sequential Test performed on Panasonic HIT solar panels last year by TÜV Rheinland resulted in only 8% performance loss. The test method places two identical panels under conditions of 1,000 hours of UV exposure, 2,000 hours of damp heat testing, 400 cycles of thermal cycling testing and four 10-cycle test blocks of humidity freeze testing.
