New R&D test cells produced at First Solar’s Perrysburg, Ohio factory and R&D centre have reached a new record cell conversion efficiency of 18.7%. The record was verified by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and announced by First Solar yesterday.
Solar Frontier strengthened its position as the closest thin-film PV module manufacturer competitor to First Solar in 2012, posting record revenue of US$833 million (JPY78.2 billion).
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Morocco’s Research Institute of Solar Energy and New Energy (IRESEN) have announced a collaboration on thin-film research.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology yesterday announced it has achieved a conversion efficiency of 10.7% for a single-junction microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cell.
CIGS thin-film module manufacturer, TSMC Solar has boosted its champion module efficiencies to 15.1%, a 0.9% increase barely five-months after reporting efficiencies of 14.2% in September, 2012.
Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin-film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4% for converting sunlight into electricity.
Thin-film product developer DayStar Technologies has entered into an agreement to acquire seven solar projects from Arxikon Construction Company in Greece.
Venture capital investments in solar plunged to US$992 million in 2012 compared to US$1.9 billion the previous year, representing the lowest amount since 2007, reports consulting firm Mercom Capital.
