Spire Semiconductor Equals Efficiency Record for Concentrator PV Cell

The provider of solar cell turnkey production lines Spire announced that its unit, Spire Semiconductor, has achieved the current concentrator photovoltaic cell’s efficiency record. The record was attained on a production ready solar cell that has 1.0 cm2 of photo area.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the U.S. DoE has measured 41% of efficiency under concentrated sunlight of 500x suns. In the beginning of 2009, Spire Semiconductor entered into a cost share subcontract with NREL worth $3.7 million for a period of 18 months. Both the organizations are working together to create a triple junction, Triathlon concentrator cell made of gallium arsenide that can attain 42.5% of conversion efficiency.

The CEO and chairman of Spire, Roger G. Little said that they have achieved improvement continuously in the cell processing design technology under the NREL subcontract. He expressed his excitement in equaling the existing world record, while still having enough time to exceed the record level and attain the targeted efficiency of 42.5%. Little added that a concentrator solar cell with more efficiency will offer cost-effective and dependable solar-powered electricity.