EPIR, NREL achieve breakthrough CdTe cell efficiency

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

EPIR Technologies has joined a select group of solar cell developers by creating a polycrystalline cadmium telluride (CdTe) cell for commercial use with an efficiency exceeding 15%. The cells were developed with the help of a team of scientists from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the 15.2% efficiency achieved far surpasses the previous best figure on soda-lime glass of 14.4%.

“The combination of EPIR's expertise in CdTe materials and NREL's expertise in CdTe solar cell device technology has empowered us to achieve these excellent results in a short timeframe.”said Dr. Siva Sivananthan, founder and CEO of EPIR.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The record-breaking numbers were driven by a fill factor of 77.6% – one of the highest values ever recorded for a CdTe cell, according to Dr. Chollada Gilmore, EPIR's CdTe solar cell technical lead. “These results are significant because our solar cells were fabricated using inexpensive commercial TEC-series glass substrates as opposed to technical-grade glass which is commonly used in champion cell fabrication.”

“This is an important advancement for CdTe thin-film PV technology because it not only surpasses the previous best result that was published for commercial soda-lime glass by a clear margin, but all the layers incorporated into this new device structure are consistent with present commercial manufacturing processes,” added Dr. Timothy Gessert, the principal scientist and group manager of the NREL CdTe research group.

EPIR did not disclose any information on when the CdTe cell would be ready for consumer distribution.

Read Next

October 10, 2025
US solar recycling firm OnePlanet has achieved the R2v3 certification from electronics sustainability non-profit SERI, which represents the “highest standards of traceability”.
October 10, 2025
NTPC Renewable Energy Limited has signed an MoU with the Government of Gujarat to develop 15GW renewable energy projects in Gujarat.
October 10, 2025
Australia's renewable energy sector recorded its slowest month of the year for additions in September, with 5.8GW of new projects added to development pipelines, according to data from Rystad Energy.
October 9, 2025
The Australian government has announced the results of the fourth Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender, with 6.6GW of renewables awarded long-term contracts.
October 9, 2025
Solar PV is the world’s cheapest technology to generate electricity, according to a study from the University of Surrey, in the UK.
October 9, 2025
Entergy Arkansas has announced plans to build a 600MW solar-plus-storage project to support a new data centre to be built by Google.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK