SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR) a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of photovoltaic solar cells, panels and systems, announced today that it has produced a full-scale, five inch prototype solar cell with an efficiency of 23.4%--a world-record for a large area solar cell.
"This is a step function increase from our 22% efficient Gen 2 technology, which has been in mass production since last year," said Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower Corp. "Credit for this achievement goes to our world- class research and development team led by Dick Swanson and Bill Mulligan, as well as to our talented engineering group."
"We are pleased to have demonstrated early success with our Gen 3 technology," said Bill Mulligan, vice president of technology and development at SunPower Corporation. "This record efficiency solar cell, which is expected to be commercially available in approximately two years, extends SunPower's leadership position and is a key component of our plan to reduce system cost by 50% by the year 2012."
About SunPower
SunPower Corporation designs, manufactures and delivers high-performance solar electric systems worldwide for residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant customers. With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. SunPower is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY).
