February 19, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Japanese technology corporation Kyocera (NYSE: KYO) claims to have achieved an efficiency of 16.6 per cent with its new polycrystalline solar modules. The claim is notable since polycrystalline modules, while cheaper to make than typical solar modules, are not known for high efficiency.

A polycrystalline solar panel module is made from a block of silicon that has multiple crystals. They are less efficient than those made from a single crystal, called monocrystalline modules, but are much simpler to produce, and cost far less to manufacture.

Along with Kyocera, makers that use polycrystalline modules include BP SX and Sharp.

Polycrystalline panels typically cost between eight and a half and ten dollars a watt, and usually have about a 12% to 12.5% conversion efficiency. Kyocera said its greater success is the result of the company’s proprietary back-contact technology.

The company said it has achieved efficiency of 16.6% in polycrystalline modules with 54 solar cells. In order to achieve this result, both the module design and the output of each individual cell were optimized. Back-contact technology involves transferring the current-carrying electrodes from the front to the rear side. This leads to an increase in the aperture area on the front of the module and hence to an improvement in efficiency, according to Kyocera.

Kyocera said that its own energy conversion results already report efficiency levels of 18.5% for polycrystalline solar cells still in the development stage.

Japan-based Kyocera began to develop solar cells in 1975. The company is a manufacturer of ceramic components for the technology industry. Its technology group is one of the largest producers of solar energy systems worldwide.

FinancialWire(tm) is committed to serving the financial community through true journalism and providing relevant resources to investors. Standards-based, independent equity research on numerous public companies is available through the Investrend Research Syndicate (http://www.investrend.com/reports) written by FIRST Research Consortium (http://www.investrend.com/FIRST) member-providers. Free annual reports and company filings for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Investrend Information Syndicate (at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279). FinancialWire(tm), in cooperation with the Investrend Broadcast Syndicate, also provides complete, daily conference call and webcast schedules as a service to shareholders and investors via the FirstAlert(tm) Network’s “FirstAlert(tm) Daily” (http://www.financialwire.net/news-alerts/).

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) website (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.