SunPower smashes record for PV cell efficiency

July 9, 2010
SunPower Corp. San Jose, Calif., has produced a full-scale solar cell with a sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of 24.2 percent

SunPower Corp. San Jose, Calif., has produced a full-scale solar cell with a sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of 24.2 percent at its manufacturing plant in the Philippines. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) confirmed that this is a record for large-area silicon wafers.