BEDFORD, USA: Spire Semiconductor LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spire Corp., has produced a world record efficiency concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar cell.
The 0.97cm2 cell was measured by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to have a peak efficiency of 42.3% at 406 suns AM1.5D, 25C (42.2% at 500 suns).
Edward D. Gagnon, GM of Spire Semiconductor, stated: “In early 2009, Spire Semiconductor was awarded an NREL Photovoltaic (PV) Incubator subcontract to develop a high efficiency triple junction, gallium arsenide (GaAs) cell. In less than 18 months, we were able to validate and incorporate our new concept into a production-ready cell design with world-record efficiency.
“This is a remarkable achievement by our technical team. NREL has been extremely helpful during the entire program, with timely responses to our confirmation requests for accurate efficiency measurements. Their continued support enabled us to validate our new bi-facial cell architecture. This higher efficiency, next generation GaAs CPV cell platform is now available commercially to the concentrator systems providers.”
Roger G. Little, chairman and CEO of Spire Corp., said: “We are pleased to reach the record high CPV cell efficiency. The availability of this new high-efficiency cell will advance next-generation CPV system performance and reduce system cost for manufacturers, helping to move solar energy ever closer to the goal of grid parity.”
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