Trina Solar (688599.SS) has achieved a new world record for the conversion efficiency of a specific type of solar module, the company announced on Monday. In laboratory tests, Trina’s large surface area n-type fully passivated heterojunction (HJT) modules demonstrated an impressive efficiency of 25.44%. These results were certified by the Fraunhofer CalLab, a leading solar research body in Germany.
HJT technology involves passivating the surface defects of solar cells to enhance performance, and the new efficiency benchmark highlights its potential for solar energy. Cell efficiency is crucial because higher conversion rates reduce the size of solar installations and lower costs.
Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales, whose lab previously held the solar cell efficiency record for decades, praised the achievement, noting that HJT represents one of the leading technologies vying for dominance in the solar industry. While HJT technology is currently more costly than other methods, Green predicts that costs will decrease as the industry adopts the new technology.
Trina’s chairman and CEO, Gao Jifan, expressed the company’s commitment to advancing research and development in passivated solar technology to maintain its leadership in the field. While HJT currently represents a small portion of the market, it is projected to increase from 7% in 2024 to 9% in 2026. Meanwhile, TopCON cells are expected to dominate the market in the coming years.
The achievement not only sets a new record for HJT technology but also represents a milestone in the efficiency of single-crystalline silicon solar cell modules.
