JinkoSolar achieves PERC efficiency record of 22.78%
The battle between Chinese photovoltaic firms Longi Solar and JinkoSolar is hotting up after the latter firm recorded a conversion efficiency of 22.78% from its P-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells. The announcement followed Longi Solar's achievement of 22.71% conversion efficiency with its mono-PERC cells mere days ago. In a statement, JinkoSolar attributed the increased efficiency to various techniques, including "the application of the selective emitter structure and fine-finger metallisation". The company recorded net profits of around $7m in Q2 2017, and shipped 2.9 GW of solar panels in the same period, an increase of 68.1% over the previous year.
Several weeks ago, the Chinese PV group said that it had reached a conversion efficiency of 22.04% with its P-type multicrystalline silicon solar cells. And its latest announcement comes mere days after rival PV module supplier Longi Solar revealed that it had achieved a 22.71% conversion efficiency record with its mono-PERC cells, as certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE CalLab.

Kangping Chen, the chief executive of JinkoSolar, said that the company remains committed to R&D. It scored its latest P-type PERC advancements by utilizing a number of advanced methods, including P-type silicon wafer and bulk passivation technologies, selective emitter technologies and fine-finger metallization technologies.

“Among the various techniques utilized, the application of the selective emitter structure and fine-finger metallization significantly minimized the energy losses caused by recombination,” the company said in an online statement. “The open circuit voltage and conversion efficiency of the solar cell was also greatly improved as a result. The utilization of advanced multi-layer ARC technology, an innovation developed by JinkoSolar, made further contributions to the efficiency increase.”

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The Shanghai-based group recorded a net profit of about $7 million in the second quarter of 2017, as revenue hit $1.17 billion. It shipped roughly 2.9 GW of solar panels in the April-June period, up 68.1% year on year. A recent report by China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) showed that the company is now competing with Longi Solar for the title of China’s leading PV module supplier this year, based on shipment data from the first half.