SolarCity introduces new, high-efficiency solar panels

SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive and board chairman Elon Musk will report that the company’s new panels can convert into electricity 22 percent of the energy that falls on them in the form of sunlight.

“It’s a world record for a rooftop panel”, said Jonathan Bass, a SolarCity spokesman.

Incremental gains in efficiency increase the value of the solar panel, enabling it to produce more electricity over the panel’s lifetime.

SolarCity is constructing a massive factory in Buffalo, N.Y., where it will make the panels. The list includes such experienced manufacturing companies as General Electric, which dropped plans to build a $300 million plant that would have been the country’s largest solar factory in 2013.

“The selection of SolarCity was, in part, already based on the demonstrated superior quality of their product”, said Alain R. Kaloyeros, the president of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the governor’s point man on the SolarCity project. The new panel may make solar a more appealing option in higher density urban areas, where energy demand is higher and roof space is more limited. The publicly traded company is hunting for new cost efficiencies to help sustain its business through the expiration of a key federal subsidy at the end of next year. “If anything, long-term, we’re hopeful we can lower the cost to the customer, or at least offer solar power in more places than we do today”, he said.

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. SolarCity says the panels it produces are cheap and are the same size as traditional residential solar panels, but provide 30 to 40 percent more power, according to Mashable.

Because the majority of SolarCity users are not paying for equipment or installation, Bass said the new panels aren’t expected to have an impact on the cost to the user.

SolarCity will produce small quantities this month at its 100 MW pilot facility.

The sun-powered provider expects to install these new panels on rooftops and carports, initially and then move to commercial installations.