SolarCity Corp Creates the Most Efficient Solar Panel

The renewable energy company based in San Mateo, California said it will start producing the new panel in small quantities for the first month, but that production will gradually expand when they will move operations to their major facility in Buffalo, New York. The company has managed to reduce the manufacturing costs while simultaneously increasing the efficiency by 30 to 40 percent. A third party photovoltaic company, the Renewable Energy Test Centre, tested and confirmed the results.

“We’re building the world’s most efficient rooftop solar panel in the United States”, said company spokesman Jonathan Bass.

Recently, though, SunPower says its panels have actually been more efficient, with average solar cell efficiency across all its lines close to 23% during the quarter, according to Greentech Media. Activists seeking to raise awareness on climate change have also praised SolarCity’s new ambitious project for proving that big companies do not have to sacrifice their own revenue by producing new, more energy-effective modules. SolarCity expects to bring down costs by 15 to 20 cents per watt.

SolarCity now buys its modules from other manufacturers, which means that it has to pay for the additional resale and logistics costs.

Still, fast-growing SolarCity will never make enough panels to fulfill its installation needs, Rive said. SunPower wrote in a statement that it ships solar panels with efficiency ratings similar to SolarCity’s new product.

Cost comparisons of SolarCity’s modules to lower-efficiency Chinese modules are largely meaningless given tariffs and different target markets.

In August, the company held a ceremony marking a milestone in the construction of its new GigaFactory in Buffalo.

SolarCity also claims its panels don’t suffer efficiency losses due to increases in temperature to the degree that other panels do. A year ago alone, almost 200,000 homes and businesses installed solar power.

“We expect it will allow us to offer solar electricity at a discount to utility power in more places”, Bass said.

While SolarCity has shown that it has the ability to achieve its ultimate manufacturing goals, a successful production ramp-up of its 1 GW Buffalo factory is still a monumental task.