Chinese solar manufacturer Longi announced over the weekend that it had broken another efficiency world record, this time for its crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells, achieving a certified efficiency of 34.85 per cent.
Longi independently developed the two-terminal crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar that broke the world record for crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem cell efficiency, and which was independently certified by the United States’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells potentially boast a theoretical efficiency limit of 43 per cent – well above the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit for single-junction solar cells of 33.7 per cent.
This latest record comes off the back of 18 months of intense research and development (R&D) into the technology.
Longi announced in November 2023 that it had achieved a tandem solar cell efficiency of 33.9 per cent and followed that up in June of 2024 with a conversion efficiency of 34.6 per cent.
Less than a year later, Longi has pushed that conversion efficiency higher to 34.85 per cent, an achievement Longi believes showcases the “formidable R&D capabilities and relentless innovation drive of the Longi Central Research Institute.”
The announcement came only days after Longi also revealed that it had achieved a 27.81 per cent conversion efficiency for its independently developed Hybrid Interdigitated-Back-Contact (HIBC) crystalline silicon solar cells, a record which was certified by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH).
The dual achievements help solidify Longi’s position as the “Dual-Champion” in solar innovation and the groundbreaking work being done by its R&D department.
