Stuttgart, Germany: Researchers Achieve 20.1% Efficiency CIGS Cell

With an efficiency of 20.1 percent, scientists at the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, ZSW) have achieved a new success in striving to increase the electricity yield of solar cells.

San Jose, CA, USA: SunPower Announces New Record Solar Cell Efficiency

SunPower Corporation has produced a full-scale solar cell with a sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of 24.2 percent at its manufacturing plant in the Philippines. This is a new world record, confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), for large area silicon wafers.

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany: Q-Cells Sets CIGS 13.0% Efficiency Record

Q-Cells has set an efficiency record for mass-produced CIGS thin-film modules. The Fraunhofer ISE has confirmed a total area efficiency of 13.0% for a Q-Cells Q.SMART UF solar module manufactured by Solibro GmbH.

Tokyo, Japan: Mitsubishi Electric Sets New PV Cell Efficiency Records

Mitsubishi Electric has achieved a very high photoelectric conversion efficiency of 14.8% in a 5mm x 5mm thin-film silicon photovoltaic cell.

Dongying, China: CNPV Solar Power Launches Premium Module Series

CNPV Solar Power SA has launched the company's premium photovoltaic modules series with power ranging from 240Wp to 250Wp made with high efficiency 156x156mm mono crystalline cells.

Sandvika, Norway: REC and ECN Achieve New Record for Multicrystalline Solar Panels

REC and ECN (Energy Research Center of the Netherlands) have together made what the company's say is the world's first multicrystalline solar panels with 17.0 percent efficiency.

Hong Kong, China: Comtec and Neo Solar Power Partner to Launch New Wafer and Cell

Monocrystalline wafer manufacturer Comtec Solar Systems and Taiwan based cell manufacturer Neo Solar Power (NSP) have jointly developed and launched the “Perfect Wafer” embedded in the “Perfect Cell”.

Dongying, China: CNPV Launches New Solar Module Product Line

CNPV is launching a new photovoltaic module series with power ranging from 190Wp to 200Wp made with high efficiency 125x125mm mono crystalline cells.

San Jose, CA, USA: SunPower Announces 20.4% Total Area Efficiency Solar Panel

SunPower Corporation has produced a world-record, full-sized solar panel with a 20.4 percent total area efficiency. The prototype was successfully developed using funds provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under its Solar America Initiative (SAI), which was awarded to SunPower approximately two years ago.

San Rafael, CA, USA: SunLink Signs Supply Agreement for Nanosolar Roof Mount System

SunLink® Corporation has signed a supply agreement with thin-film photovoltaic manufacturer Nanosolar, Inc. Under the terms of the contract, SunLink is developing and will supply a custom, flat roof system that is the preferred mounting solution for Nanosolar Utility Panels.

San Francisco, CA, USA: Suntech Power Launches Reliathon™ Platform for Utility Market

Suntech Power today announced Reliathon™, an integrated solar platform combining product and business-term innovations to lower costs and accelerate the path to grid parity with the development of utility-scale solar plants.

Campbell, CA, USA: G24 Innovations Ships First Product to Consumer Electronics Bag Manufacturer

G24 Innovations (G24i), a developer of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC), announced its first ever commercial shipment of DSSC photovoltaic modules to Hong Kong-based consumer electronics bag manufacturer, Mascotte Industrial Associates.

Midland, MI, USA: Dow Chemical Unveils Solar Shingle

Dow Chemical today unveiled its line of DOW POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials.

Tokyo, Japan: Mitsubishi Electric Prepares for Commercial Inverter Launch in US Market

Mitsubishi Electric will introduce two photovoltaic inverters to the North American market, with the 100kW model scheduled for launch in October 2010 and the 250kW model scheduled in April 2011.

Wuxi, China: Suntech Launches 60 Cell Module for Residential and Commercial Rooftop Systems

Suntech Power is introducing a 60 cell multi-crystalline PV module to be marketed under the product name Wd.

Thalheim, Germany: Q-Cells Raises Polycrystalline Cell Efficiency

The Q-Cells technologists in the Solar Valley Thalheim have succeeded in designing a module with an efficiency of 15.9% using the next generation of polycrystalline cells.

Thalheim, Germany: Q-Cells to Showcase 12% Efficiency Thin Film Module

Q-Cells will exhibiting what the company says is currently the world’s most powerful series-produced thin-film module, an enhancement of the SL1 from Solibro

Fort Collins, CO, USA: Advanced Energy Introduces 500kW Inverter for European Market

Advanced Energy Industries introduced today the Solaron(r) 500E, a European model of its high-efficiency, transformerless, grid-tie photovoltaic (PV) inverter.

Tokyo, Japan: Mitsubishi Electric Launches New Family of Solar Modules for European and US Markets

Mitsubishi Electric today launched ten new models of photovoltaic modules – five for the European market and five for North America and Asia.

Sylmar, CA, USA: Spectrolab Sets New Cell Efficiency Record

Spectrolab Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company has set a new world record for terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. The cell can convert 41.6 percent of concentrated sunlight into electricity.

Erfurt, Germany: Ersol launches Micromorph Thin Film Module "Vega-T"

With the start of series production, ersol Thin Film GmbH, a subsidiary of ersol Solar Energy AG, Erfurt, is launching its first micromorph thin-film module under the name Vega®-T.

Huntington Beach, CA, USA: Sharp Introduces New High Power Solar Modules

Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group, the U.S. solar arm of Sharp Corporation, a leading global provider of solar electric solutions, bolsters its NU line of solar modules with the introduction of the new NU-U230F3 and the NU-U235F1 modules. Both the NU-U230F3 and NU-U235F1 modules are available this month.

Thornton, CO, USA: Ascent Solar Exceeds 10% Module Efficiency Milestone

Ascent Solar Technologies has achieved its initial target module efficiency goal of 10.0% for its flexible Copper, Indium, Gallium, Selenide (CIGS) monolithically integrated modules.

Kingston, United Kingdom: QuantaSol Unveils 28.3% Efficient Single-junction Solar Cell

QuantaSol Ltd, a new independent designer and manufacturer of strain-balanced quantum-well solar cells, has developed what it believes to be the most efficient single junction solar cell ever manufactured.

Kingston, NY, USA: SunWize Launches New Grid-Tie System Product Line Incorporating SANYO N-Series

SunWize Technologies has incorporated the new SANYO N Series 215 W solar module into 58 new configurations of its Grid-Tie System packages. Shipments are commencing from SunWize facilities in Kingston, NY and Rancho Cucamonga, CA this week.

Thornton, CO, USA: Ascent Solar Manufactures Light Weight Flexible 5 Meter CIGS Based PV Laminate

Ascent Solar Technologies, a developer of state-of-the-art, flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules, announced that the company has manufactured a monolithically interconnected 5 meter long flexible light weight module on a polyimide substrate.

Baoding, China: Yingli Green Energy to Develop Next Generation High Efficiency Solar Cells

Yingli Green Energy , the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands ("ECN"), a solar research center in Europe, and Amtech Systems a supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, today announced a three-party research collaboration agreement to develop next generation high efficiency solar cells.

Herzliya, Israel: BP Solar and SolarEdge Partner to Develop Power Harvesting System

BP Solar and SolarEdge have reached a joint agreement to explore commercialization of a PV module-integrated power harvesting system embedded directly into BP Solar modules.

Tokyo, Japan: Sanyo Raises Solar Cell Efficiency to 23.0%

Sanyo Electric has broken its own record for the highest energy conversion efficiency in a practical size (100 cm2 or more) of crystalline silicon solar cells, achieving a efficiency of 23.0% (until now 22.3%) at a research level for its proprietary HIT solar photovoltaic cells.

Kyoto, Japan: Kyocera Supplies Solar Modules for New Toyota Prius

Kyocera Corporation is to supply solar modules for the new Toyota Prius solar ventilation system, an optional feature for the hybrid car model introduced in Japan by Toyota Motor Corporation on May 18.

Bedford, MA, USA: Spire Pursues Development of 42% Efficient Concentrator Solar Cells

Spire Corporation , has been awarded an 18-month, $3,706,359 program by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), consisting of $2,960,850 in government funding and a $745,509 cost share.

Wuxi, China: Swinburne University of Technology and Suntech Team to Develop Next Gen Solar Cells

Swinburne University of Technology has teamed up with Suntech Power to develop solar cells that are twice as efficient and run at half the cost of those currently available.

Wuxi, China: Suntech's Pluto Technology Raises Efficiencies on Mono- Crystalline and Multi-Crystalline PV Cells

Suntech Power is now utilizing the company's "Pluto" technology to produce PV cells with conversion efficiencies of approximately 19% on mono-crystalline PV cells and 17% on multi-crystalline PV cells.

Los Gatos, CA, USA: Akeena to Introduce AC Solar Panels

Akeena Solar and Enphase Energy have entered in to a strategic partnership to develop and market Andalay solar panel systems with ordinary AC house current output instead of high voltage DC output.