The Chinese manufacturer claims that the new efficiency result sets a world record for industrial-scale TOPCon solar cells on M10-sized wafers. The performance was verified by an undisclosed independent third party in China.
Chinese solar panel manufacturer JinkoSolar achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 26.6% for an industrial-scale TOPCon solar cell based on an M10-sized wafer.
This achievement, which represents a world record for industrial-scale solar cells, was certified by an independent, unnamed organization in China.
The device was developed with the support of scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with scientists from Soochow University and Jiliang University. It was described in the newspaper “Double-sided electrical refinement enables efficient industrial tunnel oxide passivating contact silicon solar cells”, published in nature energy.
The team used an M10 wafer with an effective area of 313.3 cm², in accordance with modern industrial-scale production standards.
At the front of the cell, the researchers combined high sheet resistance boron emitters with optimized lattice designs, improving surface passivation and reducing carrier transport losses. On the backside, they implemented a new double-layer tunnel oxide/polysilicon structure to reduce metallization-induced degradation.
This design includes a highly crystalline inner polysilicon layer and an outer barrier layer that blocks silver diffusion from the electrodes to the silicon substrate, ensuring excellent interfacial passivation, the research team said.
Tested under standard lighting conditions, the cell achieved an efficiency of 26.6%, an open-circuit voltage of 744.6 mV and a fill factor of 85.57%. By thinning the back polysilicon layer, the dual-sidedness of the cell was further increased to 88.3%, increasing the overall energy yield.
“The device has reached 83.8% of the theoretical efficiency limit, outperforming conventional TOPCon solar cells,” said Jichun Ye, the lead author of the study.
JinkoSolar also currently holds the world record efficiency of 27.02% for a laboratory-scale TOPCon solar cell, verified by China’s National Photovoltaic Industry Measurement and Testing Center (NPVM).
By 2028, JinkoSolar expects to cross the 28% threshold, according to a recent white paper.
The company also recently announced that it has achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 25.58% for a TOPCon panel, with the result certified by certification body TÜV SÜD.
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