A Soitec multi-junction solar cell for use in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems has become the company’s latest cell to reach a world record for conversion efficiency at 46%, according to Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (Fraunhofer ISE).

The Germany-headquartered research institute once again collaborated with Soitec on the new cell, along with CEA-Leti, a division of the French research and technology organisation. The three parties were also involved in the most recent record-breaking CPV cell last year.

The efficiency of the new cell has been independently verified under standard test conditions by the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The multi-junction cell’s efficiency was measured at a concentration of 508 suns under a Fresnel concentrator lens. So-called multi-junction cells, based on III-V semiconductor compound materials, allow the materials at each junction to respond to different wavelengths of light.