Soitec has taken a little over a year to smash the record it had previously achieved for the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity.

Working with and CEA-Leti of France and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE of Germany, the French CPV giant has produced a solar cell that converts 46% of the solar light into electrical energy.

The record-beating cell is a four-junction model, with each sub-cell converting precisely a quarter of the incoming photons between 300 and 1750 nanometres into electricity.

Its efficiency was measured at a concentration of 508 suns and was confirmed by the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Soitec says.

The company says it used “precise tuning of the composition and thicknesses of each layer inside the cell structure” to overcome the challenge of distributing photons exactly among the four sub-cells.

But while it is great to see a significant gain on the previous 44.7% conversion record, the fact remains that high efficiency has yet to translate into high market penetration for the CPV industry.

To find out if this new achievement can change the picture, PV Insider spoke to Soitec’s vice president of solar cell product development, Jocelyne Wasselin.

Q. What does this 1.3% improvement in top solar cell efficiency mean at the module and system level?

Wasselin: Soitec will implement this new cell in a Soitec module​ next year and this new module version will be compared to the current module populated with three-junction cells. We expect an efficiency gain of 15% at least.

Q. The 'precise tuning of the composition and thicknesses of each layer inside the cell structure' sounds expensive; are these cells more costly than their predecessors, and if so, by how much?

Wasselin: The precise tuning is a development subject and once we have established the recipe, it does not affect the cost of the layers. By introducing this cell, Soitec will convert more solar resource into electricity and the cost in terms of dollars per watt will ​decrease.

Q. In view of the above, how does the new cell design affect the ROI for CPV systems?

Wasselin: Different parameters are influencing the cost per kilowatt-hour. The cell efficiency is a key element that plays a role at the watt-peak level.

It also impacts positively the installation costs and the operations and maintenance costs by reducing capital and operational expenditure, as less system needs to be installed per megawatt. ​

Q. CPV already leads the solar industry in terms of efficiency, yet this does not seem to be translating into a significant pipeline of business. Do you expect this record to help re-establish interest in CPV, and if so, how?

Wasselin: ​Both Soitec and the CPV sector consistently increase the installed capacity base year on year. This allows significant economy of scale and develops the learning curve throughout the value chain.

As larger and larger​ utility-scale projects are ​being installed, including 44MW in the Republic of South Africa, 20MW in China and 9MW in the USA, engineering, procurement and construction companies installing Soitec CPV ​are reducing their costs and price.

The record supports Soitec's commitment to develop cheaper and cheaper solutions.

It fuels the view that in high direct normal irradiance countries, CPV can become the cost leader​ by reducing the amount of equipment, such as modules and trackers, to be installed or maintained per megawatt.

Q. You mention that in your press materials that the record "clearly indicates that we can demonstrate a 50% efficiency in the near future." When do you expect this to happen, and what impact would this milestone have?

Wasselin: Soitec and its partners are progressing towards the 50% target and have all the elements identified to fulfil this milestone. Several engineering iterations will bring us there and will furthermore improve the competitiveness.

Q. More widely, how do you see the CPV market evolving in 2015? What pipeline of projects are you working with, and what trends are you seeing?

Wasselin: Large​r and larger​ utility-scale projects ​are ​being installed, and many more are in the developing stages. There is an analyst consensus on solid mid-term growth. According to IHS, 800MW of CPV would be installed in the year 2017.