Longi Solar sets 20.66% front-side efficiency record for bifacial shingling modules

Longi Solar, a unit of Chinese monocrystalline solar products maker Longi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd (SHA:601012), said on Friday it has set a new world record by achieving a front-side conversion efficiency of 20.66% on a 60-cell bifacial shingling module.

The result was validated by the China General Certification Center (CGC) and was attributed to the company’s extensive investments in research and development (R&D). Last year alone, it spent USD 175.7 million (EUR 150.7m) on R&D, it noted.

Commenting on the achievement, Longi Solar’s vice president Lv Jun said it further confirms the development potential of monocrystalline PERC. “We firmly believe this will completely replace mainstream products in the next three years and effectively improve PV system's power generation efficiency and reliability, which in turn reduce LCOE (levelised cost of energy) and brings customers more benefits."

The Chinese company explained that bifacial PERC cells can produce power from both sides, which improves their performance by 10%-25% as compared to that of a single-sided PERC cell, projecting that the market share of PERC bifacial modules will grow rapidly in the future.

Longi Solar’s plan is to gradually bring its technologies to mass production, the company said.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.8575)

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