SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) announced today that it has achieved a world-record for a solar panel with a 20.4 percent total area efficiency.
The prototype was developed through funding received from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under its Solar America Initiative (SAI). The Solar America Initiative is focused on accelerating widespread commercialisation of solar energy technologies by 2015.
The 333-watt solar panel consisting of 96 solar cells is based on SunPower’s third generation solar cell technology, offering a minimum cell efficiency of 23 percent. The solar cells are cut from a 165 mm diameter ingot and include an anti-reflective coating to improve power generation. The total panel area is 1.6 square meters, including the frame.
SunPower’s efficiency claims were confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), an independent testing facility.
The company expects to make the solar panel commercially available within the next 2 years and plans to begin operating a U.S. panel manufacturing facility in 2010.
The company recently experienced some very positive exposure after teams of students representing universities from Germany, Illinois and California placed first, second and third, respectively, at the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. All three winning teams used SunPower solar panels to power their homes in this competition.
SunPower also recently announced the availability of the SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile (T5), the first product to combine solar panel, frame and mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit.
SunPower has been developing solar technology since the 1970s after its co-founder, Dr. Richard Swanson, was pondering ways to deal with the oil crisis occurring at the time.
