Sharp hits 25.09% conversion efficiency for 6-inch HBC solar cell

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The HBC cell on a 6-inch (full-area) wafer is claimed by Sharp to be the highest efficiency reported to date. Image: Sharp

Sharp Solar, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based contract electronics giant Foxconn has reported a verified heterojunction back contact (HBC) solar cell on a large-area (6-inch) N-type monocrystalline wafer with a conversion efficiency of 25.09%.

Sharp Solar said the cell was validated by the Japan Electrical safety & Environment Technology laboratories (JET) and the R&D partially funded by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under the theme of “Development of Cost Reduction Technology of High Performance, High Reliability Solar Power Generation”.

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Back in 2014, Sharp reported a small-area wafer size conversion efficiency for its HBC cells of 25.1%

The HBC cell on a 6-inch (full-area) wafer is claimed by Sharp to be the highest efficiency reported to date.

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