File:Solar-cell-efficiencies as of 2016.jpg

https://solarthermalmagazine.com/2016/01/06/new-efficiency-record-set-with-dual-junction-solar-cell/

Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) have jointly set a new world record for converting non-concentrated (1-sun) sunlight into electricity using a dual-junction solar cell.

The newly certified record conversion efficiency of 29.8 percent was set using a top cell made of gallium indium phosphide developed by NREL, and a bottom cell made of crystalline silicon developed by CSEM using silicon heterojunction technology. The two cells were made separately and then stacked by NREL. The record was published in ‘Solar cell efficiency tables.’

“It’s a record within this mechanically stacked category,” said David Young, a senior researcher at NREL. “The performance of the dual-junction device exceeded the theoretical limit of 29.4 percent for crystalline silicon solar cells.”