Amonix7700 concentrated photovoltaic field test achieved 31% conversion efficiency

The system, called the Amonix 7700 Concentrating Photovoltaic Solar Power Generator, uses highly efficient multi-hub photovoltaic cells originally developed by scientists at NREL (the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory). These cells are made of indium gallium arsenide and gallium phosphide instead of traditional silicon, and under laboratory conditions, these cells can convert 41.6% of the sunlight they absorb into electricity.

Although production cells typically do not perform as well as they do in lab conditions, the cells produced for the Amonix 7700 have been able to achieve 31% efficiency at the module level and 26% at the system level in field tests.

According to NREL, these two ratios of 31% and 26% are the highest conversion efficiencies ever achieved in concentrated photovoltaic systems (CPV), allowing the Amonix 7700 system to achieve more "energy per acre" than any system currently available in the solar photovoltaic world.

The 7700 system uses an acrylic Fresnel lens to concentrate light 500 times more than usual and direct it to 7,560 multi-hub photovoltaic cells. A six-inch square silicon wafer used in a traditional solar panel can produce about 2.5 watts of electricity, but in the 7700 system, the same size wafer is cut into hundreds of cells and then paired with Fresnel lenses to produce more than 1,500 watts of electricity. This reduces the required cell area by 500 times.

Twenty Amonix 7700 units would occupy just five acres of land and produce more than 1 megawatt of rated power, which is enough electricity to power more than 750 homes.

A 53-kW 7700 system has a dual-axis tracker that follows the sun during the day and repositions itself to protect the panels in extreme wind conditions. The energy driving the tracker accounts for only 1% of the system's output power.

The 7700 system also integrates the chip, battery and configuration structure into a single unit, which saves costs. This also makes it easier to transport and allows for quick installation.

Amonix has 15 years of experience in developing CPV systems, while NREL has more than 30 years of experience in R&D in photovoltaic technology. The collaboration between the two parties combines high-efficiency multi-hub solar photovoltaic cells with Amonix's CPV system, and this collaboration is completed through the "High Performance Photovoltaics Project" funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's "Solar Technology Program".