Trina Solar, China’s tier-one solar PV manufacturer, broke a new record for its high efficiency PV module. Its State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology of China (SKL PVST) has set a a new world record of 19.86% aperture efficiency for its high-efficiency "Honey Plus" P-type multicrystalline solar module.

The record-breaking Honey Plus module contains 120 pieces of half-cut P-type multicrystalline solar cells (156x78mm2) that are made of PERC technology and highly efficient light trapping technology. The same technology had achieved an 19.14% efficiency record on a 1.515m^2 module in April 2015. The SKL PVST’s new efficiency record represented a 3.8% increase, or an increase of 0.7 percentage points.

“The efficiency of PV modules is one of the key parameters to estimate the final Levelised Cost of solar Electricity (LCOE),” said Dr. Pierre Verlinden, Vice-President and Chief Scientist of Trina Solar. “This 19.86% aperture efficiency result that Trina Solar achieved demonstrates the huge potential for future multicrystalline p-type silicon research. It is also a leap forward in the trend of continuous efficiency improvements of crystalline silicon solar modules.”

Trina Solar will continue achieving commercial application on their innovations, added Verlinden. The 19.86% efficiency record has been verified by the Fraunhofer ISE CalLab in Germany.