Solar module manufacture First Solar Inc. (FSLR) reports it has set a world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) module conversion efficiency, achieving 18.6% aperture efficiency for an advanced full size module. To simplify, their solar module has increased the amount of sunlight converted into electricity at the highest recorded efficiently rate.

During the company’s first quarter, First Solar’s best modules maintained an average efficiency of 16.3%. The record has been measured and certified by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Bloomberg.com reports that the thin-film, CdTe technology First Solar produces has historically been cheaper to manufacture, yet less efficient that their more commonly produced silicon-based panel counterparts. The results from this world record indicate that First Solar’s panels now can convert more sunlight into electricity than the average silicon panel.

“First Solar’s CdTe thin film is now rightly categorized as a high performance product,” said Raffi Garabedian, First Solar’s Chief Technology Officer. “At one time, we might have been characterized as a low cost, low efficiency technology, but consistent with our technology projections we are now proving that CdTe thin film delivers both industry-leading performance AND sustainable thin-film cost structures.”

Garabedian continued by emphasizing First Solar’s significant sustained investment in the development of CdTe technology/ He said, “While silicon technologies have approached their theoretical efficiency entitlement and leveled out in terms of performance and cost, First Solar continues to harvest the upside available from its superior thin film technology. Our CdTe modules are now more efficient than the best multi-crystalline Si modules, and we still have a great deal of technology head room for further innovation.”

According to the company’s press release, Nick Strevel, First Solar’s Senior Manager of Technology, commented on the performance of the technology. He noted that “efficiency combined with other real-world performance attributes result in First Solar technology delivering higher energy density than multi-crystalline Silicon (m-Si) solar panels. Given the same installed nameplate module capacity (Watts) with equivalent ground coverage ratio, Solar’s CdTe product will provide up to 8 percent more useable energy from the same land area than m-Si, which gives First Solar a competitive advantage over other PV technologies.”

At the close of trading, FSLR finished the day up just less than $3/share, roughly 5.9% on the day, so clearly investors are fans of this milestone for First Solar.

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