Oxford PV, a spin-off from the University of Oxford, says it’s achieved the world record for the most efficient solar panel.
In collaboration with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, the company says its solar panel achieved 25% conversion efficiency – the percentage of solar energy shining on a panel converted into electricity. That’s a big deal compared to the more typical 16-24% in commercial solar panels.
I’ll be honest, this article has me really confused on what the actual achievement was. They say they got a 25 % peroveskite/si cell, but that they already manufacture 28% efficient peroveskite/si cells at scale.
The current world record for peroveskite/ si cells is HZB’s 32.5% record, and the world record record for any cell material is FhG-ISE’s 47.6% four+ junction cells, so i’m not sure what this record was in.
You seem to know about the topic. Does the official release help? Seems to have some differences in information compared to the article.
https://www.oxfordpv.com/news/oxford-pv-sets-new-solar-panel-efficiency-world-record-0
From what i can gather this is “tandom cell” offering a higher theoretical maximum compared to silicon based, whatever that even means.
The record is for panel efficiency, whereas the 28%, 32.5%, and 47.6% values you refer to are about solar cell efficiency. https://energytheory.com/solar-cell-vs-solar-panel/
Ahh, the articles didn’t make that clear. So this is just an improvement in their packageing and layout rather than the cells themselves.
I’m not even remotely knowledgeable on the subject, are those the efficiencies immediately after manufacturing or after they’ve settled? The one thing I remember about solar panel efficiency is that it quickly degrades, though maybe I’m misremembering that too