First Solar cadmium telluride solar cell conversion efficiency of 18.7%

First Solar announced on February 26 that its cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic solar cell conversion efficiency has reached 18.7%, setting a new world record. This record has been confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under the U.S. Department of Energy. The new world record battery is manufactured by First Solar's factory and R&D center in Perrysburg, Ohio, using commercial manufacturing processes and materials, including glass substrates.

Raffi Garabedian, chief technology officer of First Solar, said that the results show that cadmium telluride has great potential compared with other photovoltaic technologies and highlights the company's continued investment in R&D to continuously improve product performance.

In the first quarter of 2012, the average conversion efficiency of First Solar's production components in the fourth quarter was 12.9%, which was 0.7% higher than the 12.2% in the fourth quarter of 2011; at the same time, the conversion efficiency of the components manufactured by the company's major production lines reached 13.1%, which was higher than last year. 12.6% conversion efficiency over the same period.