Photo: Courtesy of LONGi

China's solar energy giant LONGi announced on Friday that it has set a new world record of 33.9 percent for the efficiency of crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells, indicating that China is once again leading the world in the field of solar cells due to its green development push.

"The conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cells is a key indicator for evaluating the potential of PV technology. The higher efficiency of crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells signifies more generation from the same area while absorbing the same amount of light," said Li Zhenguo, founder and president of LONGi. 

The new world record is the first to be broken by a Chinese company since the efficiency of crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells was recorded in 2016, according to the company's statement sent to the Global Times. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology from Saudi Arabia set the previous solar cell efficiency record at 33.7 percent in May this year.

Solar power-related industry stocks in the A-share market pulled up on Wednesday. As of press time, China's tech company Kstar hit the 10 percent daily limit, while Deye surged 6.49 percent and Sungrow is up over 4 percent.

Jiang Hua, deputy secretary general of China Photovoltaic Industry Association, noted that as cost reduction and high efficiency are the core of PV industry development, the continuous improvement of the conversion efficiency of solar cells is one of the effective initiatives to reduce the cost of electricity.

"Once the high-efficiency cell technology realizes mass production, it will cut the cost of photovoltaic power generation, which is favorable for promoting the Chinese and global photovoltaic market growth, so as to drive the whole energy change and transformation," Jiang noted.

According to the estimation, every 1 percent increase in the conversion efficiency of crystalline silicon cells can bring about more than 4 percent reduction in product cost, significantly reducing the cost of PV power generation. 

In terms of 240 gigawatts of new global installed capacity in 2022, 0.01 percent efficiency improvement can generate 140 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and save 1.1 million square meters of installation area.

"China's photovoltaic products, including polysilicon and solar power modules, account for more than 80 percent of the global share. With the improvement of cell efficiency, China's solar power products will become more competitive in the global market, which will also contribute more scientific and technological power to the achievement of the dual-carbon goal of the world," Xu Xixiang, chief scientist of LONGi, told the Global Times on Friday.

In November 2022, the company also set a new efficiency record at 26.81 percent for silicon solar cells, fully demonstrating the scientific and technological strength of China's PV enterprises in silicon solar cell manufacturing. 

LONGi's achievements mirror China's continuous push for its green development. During the tone-setting central financial work conference, the country vowed to divert more financial resources to technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, green development and small- and medium-sized enterprises. 

According to the National Energy Administration, in the first three quarters, the country's new PV installed reached 128.94 million kilowatts, up 145 percent year-on-year. The PV power generation capacity stood at 436.9 billion kilowatt-hours, up 33 percent on a yearly basis.