First Solar's R&D team in Perrysburg, Ohio, set a new world record for CdTe solar cell efficiency, 18.7 percent, as certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
First Solar, Inc. announced that it has set a new world
record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) solar cell
conversion efficiency, achieving 18.7 percent cell efficiency in tests
confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL).
The record-setting cell was constructed at the
Company's Perrysburg, Ohio factory and R&D center using processes and
materials including the glass substrate that are designed for
commercial-scale manufacturing.
"This achievement showcases the huge potential of CdTe compared to other
PV technologies and highlights the performance gains we continue to
achieve thanks to our consistent and strong investment in R&D," said
Raffi Garabedian, First Solar's Chief Technology Officer. "We are
confident the advanced technologies and processes we developed for this
record-setting cell will further enhance the performance of our future
production modules and power plants."
First Solar has continued to transfer its success in the R&D lab into
its commercial modules, increasing its average production module
efficiency to 12.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 0.7
percentage points from 12.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. The
Company's lead line was producing modules with 13.1 percent efficiency
during the fourth quarter, up from 12.6 percent in the same period a
year ago.
Since it began commercial production in 2002, First Solar has produced
more than 90 million of its thin-film solar modules with a
capacity of over 7 gigawatts (GW), enough to provide clean electricity
for approximately 3.5 million homes and displace 4.7 million metric tons
of CO2 annually, based on world averages.
