Frankfurt am Main, 14th May 2024 – With 27.30%, LONGi sets a new world record for silicon heterojunction back-contact (HBC) solar cells, beating its own record from December 2023. The Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) has certified this new record under laboratory conditions. This is LONGi’s 17th new world record in solar cell efficiency since April 2021. The company currently holds two world records for crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency. The second one is at 33.9% for silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells from November 2023.
LONGi TaiRay: Next generation silicon wafers for TOPCon, heterojunction and back-contact cells
In April LONGi introduced their all-new silicon “Tera” wafers which have been renamed “TaiRay”.
The TaiRay wafer has the following key benefits: High platform compatibility (TOPCon, heterojunction, back contact), more evenly distributed resistance, and effective removal of impurities. Thanks to an improved Recharge Czochralski (RCz) process used in the production of monocrystalline silicon ingots, they have a better and more uniform resistance distribution. The resistance ratio between the ends has been halved for ingots with the same length. It also makes it easier to remove metal contaminants from the TaiRay wafers. The more contaminants that can be removed, the greater the potential for improving cell efficiency. Finally, the TaiRay wafers have a 16 % higher bending resistance than conventional wafers. As a result, they are more resistant to breakage. This allows thinner wafers to be produced and reduces the likelihood of cell breakage during production.
Overall, the LONGi TaiRay silicon wafers offer an efficiency increase of approximately 0.1% for all platforms.
Media Contact
Nadine Bütow
Head of European Communications (DG)
nadinebuetow@longi.com
Timo Helmke
PR Manager Europe (DG)
timohelmke@longi.com
About LONGi and LONGi Solar
LONGi Solar is one of the world’s largest solar technology companies, ranking first in global module shipments since 2020. It is a subsidiary of LONGi Green Energy Technology (LONGi), which was founded in 2000. LONGi has more than 60,000 employees, 30+ locations and 30 manufacturing sites globally. LONGi Europe is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The company has established five business sectors, covering mono silicon, wafers, cells and modules, commercial and industrial as well as residential distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment to support the development of zero-carbon energy globally.
Since 2021, LONGi has broken the photovoltaic (PV) cell conversion efficiency record 17 times in a row. Currently the company is holding two efficiency world records, both officially confirmed in 2023 and 2024: 33.9% for crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells, and 27.30% for crystalline silicon Heterojunction Back Contact (HBC) solar cells. LONGi is the first Chinese solar manufacturer to join the three distinguished climate initiatives RE100, EP100 and EV100. Under the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), LONGi has set a 2030 emission reduction target aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent across its operations and productions compared to 2020 levels.
