SunPower’s World Record Solar Cells Now in Commercial Production

March 28th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

Last June, I wrote about SunPower’s world-record-breaking solar cells (verified by the Guinness Book of World Records folks). The latest news from the good folks at Sunpower? The Silicon Valley-based solar technology manufacturer revealed this week that its third generation SunPower® Maxeon™ solar cell (Maxeon) is now in commercial production.

“This world-record efficiency solar cell delivers sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of up to 24 percent,” the news release noted.

“We’re pleased to move our world-record breaking efficiency solar cell from the lab into commercial production,” said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO.

Here are some more details on SunPower’s top solar cells:

“SunPower’s new Maxeon all-back contact solar cell measures 160 mm in size and produces more energy per square meter when compared to conventional crystalline solar cells. The new cell has low reverse-bias breakdown voltage to deliver better performance in shady and dusty conditions, and better temperature coefficient for increased energy harvest in hot environments. The new Maxeon solar cell offers improved aesthetics with a consistent, homogenous, sleek black look.”

Source: SunPower

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: most efficient solar cells, quickies, Solar Cell Efficiency, Sunpower, sunpower solar cells, sunpower world record solar cells, world record solar cells

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Dennis-Smith/1262650794 Dennis Smith

congrats for Sun but we can minimize costs by building it ourselves as in the instuction on this site http://dess.me/GrnEn
jstack6

The 22.4% efficiency rating was confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). And, the testers identified that they could actually operate 5% more efficiently.
Edward Kerr

How does the cost compare?
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  they aren’t the cheapest. basically, in some situations, the higher efficiency should pay off, and in others not.
tibi stibi

what Wp will the pannels be (with what size)?
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  you can poke around with the various options on their site: http://us.sunpowercorp.com/