On 18 December 2023, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LONGi), the PV giant, reported a new world record for conversion efficiency of 27.09% on crystalline silicon heterojunction back-contact (HBC) solar cells. This breakthrough has been verified by the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) in Germany.

These HBC cells with a conversion efficiency of 27.09% were created using an all-laser patterning process, which replaces the photolithography process with high costs. LONGi's R&D team reduced the patterning cost for back-contact cells through this new technology. Additionally, an ultra-thin transparent conductive oxide (ITO) layer was developed to reduce the amount of indium used in solar cell processing. The thin ITO layer significantly reduces the amount of indium used in the new HBC cell to only one-fifth of that in traditional bifacial heterojunction solar cells.

LONGi's new world record of 27.09% for single-crystalline silicon solar cells, surpassing its previous record of 26.81% announced in November 2022, highlights the company's commitment to producing high-quality and high-efficiency solar cell technology. “Innovation is the core competitiveness of enterprises and LONGi is committed to 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world'. We at LONGi believe that photovoltaics will play a crucial role in the worldwide energy transition,” said Li Zhenguo, Founder and President of LONGi.