Trina Solar achieves 24.24% efficiency for 210 mm n-type TOPCon solar cell

China’s Trina Solar has revealed that it has achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.24% for an n-type TOPCon solar cell based on 210 mm wafers. The results have been confirmed by TÜV Nord in Germany.

“In March, Trina Solar brought the maximum efficiency of 25.5% for large-area 210 × 210mm i-TOPCon cells, setting a new world record for industrial large-area n-type i-TOPCon cell, the company said in a statement. “Trina Solar’s researchers in State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology developed multi-busbar and novel encapsulation technologies, together with non-destructive laser cutting technology to improve module efficiency. By using large-area 210mm n-type i-TOPCon cells, they brought the maximum aperture efficiency of 24.24% for large-area 600 W+ modules with an area of 2.807 m².”

The manufacturer said this is the first time that a module aperture efficiency of more than 24% has been achieved with industrial large-area n-type i-TOPCon cells.

In mid-July, Trina achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.5% for a p-type PERC solar cell based on 210 mm wafers. These results, confirmed by the State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology in China, represented a world record for this cell type, it claimed. In August 2021, the cell still had an efficiency of 23.5%, which means that it had gained 1 percentage point in less than 12 months.

In a recent interview with pv magazine, Helena Li, president of the company’s global cell and module business, presented plans to release new TOPCon solar modules. However, she said the whole n-type transition is now being postponed. The company now plans to raise its capacity for new n-type products from 500 MW to 20 GW by the end of 2023.

“We are also looking at interdigitated back-contact (IBC) and heterojunction, but first we want to expand our TOPCon business,” said Li.