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Struggling concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) manufacturer Amonix has announced a module efficiency rating of 34.2%, as confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Vahan Garboushian, Amonix founder and CTO, said: “This is a huge milestone for Amonix and the CPV industry. We have been at the forefront of CPV technology breakthroughs and have consistently proven that CPV offers the highest efficiencies of all solar technologies in the right operating conditions with plenty of headroom. Amonix is focused on driving CPV costs down and breaking efficiency records in the near future.”
Sarah Kurtz, Reliability Group Manager at NREL, said: “While the mainstream PV industry has made critical reductions in large-scale production costs and incremental improvements in power-conversion efficiencies, much of the world is unaware of the dramatic progress that has been made by CPV companies toward achieving high power-conversion efficiencies.
“Achievement of over 33.3% efficiency for a commercial module is an important milestone – the Department of Energy once targeted this goal ("One-third of a sun") for a major initiative. It is exciting to see this goal accomplished, especially in light of the opportunities for further efficiency improvements and the expectation of low costs associated with large-scale manufacturing.”
This summer, the Las Vegas Review Journal noted that a year after opening its doors, Amonix closed its 214,000 square foot North Las Vegas manufacturing plant, which was subsidized by over US$20 million in federal tax credits and grants.
Amonix was reported to have sold equipment, including automated tooling systems and robotic welding cells, in an online auction in July.
