First Solar Inc. claims it has set a new world record for cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic solar module efficiency, achieving 14.4% total area efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) confirmed the record, which eclipsed the prior record of 13.4%, also set by First Solar.
The record-setting product was constructed using commercial-scale manufacturing equipment and materials at the company's Perrysburg, Ohio, factory. First Solar notes that it updated its module efficiency road map in December 2011 to the increased goal of 14.5% to 15% average efficiency for its production modules by the end of 2015, and the process improvements developed for the record-setting cell and module continue to be implemented as part of that road map.
