News Article
Thin Film Silicon Efficiency Progress
United Solar reaches 16.3% efficiency with nano-crystalline technology
United Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) (NASDAQ:ENER) and a leading global manufacturer of light-weight, flexible thin-film solar modules, today announced that it has achieved a world record 16.3% for thin-film silicon solar technology. This achievement is higher than the previous record of 15.4%, also reached by United Solar. United Solar attained a small-area (0.25 cm2) initial cell efficiency of 16.3% using a triple-junction structure incorporating the recently patented Nano-Cystalline silicon technology.
The cells are being sent to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), an official U.S. Department of Energy laboratory, for independent testing and confirmation. Earlier this year, United Solar announced that NREL had confirmed that the company's Nano-Crystalline technology achieves 12% initial conversion efficiency in a large-area encapsulated cell (400 cm2), also a world-record for thin-film silicon solar technology.
"This represents another substantial milestone for the company as we continue to develop our technology through a focus on conversion efficiency," said Jay Knoll, Interim President of Energy Conversion Devices, United Solar's parent company. "Our core technology can now reach conversion efficiencies of 16.3% in the lab, an increase from 15.4%, leading the way in thin-film technology development."
