U.S.-based perovskite/silicon solar module maker Tandem PV has achieved a conversion efficiency of 30.4% from a 100 cm² demonstration module in internal testing. The module features the company’s proprietary 4-terminal perovskite glass in a tandem configuration on top of an interdigitated back contact (IBC) cell produced by Maxeon.
According to Tandem PV CEO Scott Wharton, who spoke with pv magazine USA about the achievement, breaking the 30% barrier has been a company goal for some time.
In a social media post announcing the achievement, Wharton called the 30% threshold “a level of performance beyond where conventional silicon solar panels can realistically go,” adding that the demonstration module is “a sign that perovskite-silicon tandem solar is moving onto a new performance curve.”
Notably, unlike some other perovskite efficiency records — such as the recent 1 cm² perovskite test cell produced by a Chinese Academy of Sciences research team that achieved 32.89% efficiency in certified testing — the Tandem PV module is built using a process designed to scale quickly to production modules.
Wharton estimates a full-sized module using the design could achieve 28% efficiency — offering 12% more output from the same surface area as the current silicon-based efficiency leader, a 545 W back-contact solar module with 25% efficiency from manufacturer Aiko. He said that Tandem PV is squarely focused on delivering such a module for the utility-scale sector later in 2026.
The Tandem PV demonstration module is now advancing through third-party certification of its performance.
Design specifics
While Wharton noted the underlying Maxeon cell in the Tandem PV module operates at roughly 25% efficiency on its own, he admitted the addition of the perovskite glass reduces that efficiency slightly as the tandem layer filters some of the wavelengths that would have reached the silicon surface.
However, Wharton said the perovskite layer converts 9% of the sun’s energy on its own, leading to the 30.4% figure, and the CEO estimated his company would be able to hit 10% efficiency for its perovskite layer in the near future.
As for durability, Wharton said Tandem PV’s latest products are showing an estimated degradation rate of about 1% per year in UV-accelerated lifetime testing at 65°C, a figure supported by data from tests of Tandem’s current modules in the field.
That’s not quite the 0.59% per year average degradation seen in more mature silicon cell technologies, but it’s not far off.
Looking to the future, Wharton said Tandem PV will be able to keep pace with the latest innovations in silicon solar cell technology, because the company’s perovskite glass-over silicon design does not lock its modules into reliance on a specific cell architecture.
“One of the things about our approach is that we can use really any cells,” the CEO said, noting that the design can integrate tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon), heterojunction (HJT), or passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technologies. “Our products can naturally get better. We just have to sit back and watch the industry innovate.”
Granholm joins Tandem PV board
In other news, Tandem PV announced the addition of former U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to its board of directors, alongside current board members including Wharton, company co-founder and CTO Colin Bailie, and co-founder and managing director Chris Eberspacher.
“The idea of building the next generation of clean-energy factories in America is incredibly exciting,” said Granholm in a statement. “Tandem PV is taking a breakthrough technology from a promising idea to real manufacturing, and doing it at exactly the moment when the country needs more affordable, reliable power.”
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