Elon Musk, co-founder of SolarCity and SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive announced that the company reached the milestone where it will start producing its own solar panels, the most efficient yet on the market.
Elon Musk, co-founder of SolarCity and SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive announced that the company reached the milestone where it will start producing its own solar panels, the most efficient yet on the market.
Throughout its short but rapid ascension, SolarCity has quickly reached one of the top positions on the market. And now it’s time to move to producing its own solar panels, announced as:
“the world’s most efficient rooftop solar panel, with a module efficiency exceeding 22 percent”.
According to the announcement, production will begin small, tested on pilot line in Fremont California, as well as in upstate New York. The new solar panels will not be made widely available, SolarCity planning to work on a project to project basis at the start of this venture.
Building on Silevo technology, the new high-volume solar panels will firstly be built in the Fremont 100-megawatt facility. Production will also begin in the 1-gigawatt Buffalo facility. Once this facility reaches full production capacity, estimated at 10,000 solar panels daily, more expansive planning will be announced.
SolarCity’s new solar panel was measured at 22.04 percent module-efficiency. The measurement done by the Renewable Energy Test Center places the new solar panels slightly above the market line. Combining copper electrodes, n-type substrates and passivation layers that are ultra-thin, the bifacial PV cells make SolarCity’s solar panels the best option on the market, with high conversion efficiency.
On average, residential solar panels such as SolarCity’s are capable of converting anywhere in between 14 and 21 percent of the solar power. Industrial solar panels exceed these efficiency rates by far, yet they are not fit for residential projects.
For SolarCity, that’s where the challenge lies. Providing the best cost-efficiency option, U.S.’s largest residential solar installer raises the bar on the solar panel market.
Photo Credits: Flickr
