PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2004; 12:365–372 (DOI: 10.1002/pip.574) SHORT COMMUNICATION Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (Version 24) Martin A. Green 1 * ,y , Keith Emery 2 , David L. King 3 , Sanekazu Igari 4 and Wilhelm Warta 5 1 Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia 2 National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA 3 Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123-0752, USA 4 Energy Electronics Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan 5 Department of Solar Cells—Materials and Technology, Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Heidenhofstr. 2, D-79110 Freiburg, Germany Consolidated tables showing an extensive listing of the highest independently con- firmed efficiencies for solar cells and modules are presented. Guidelines for inclusion of results into these tables are outlined and new entries since January 2004 are reviewed. Copyright # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words: solar cell efficiency; photovoltaic efficiency; energy conversion efficiency INTRODUCTION S ince January 1993, Progress in Photovoltaics has published six-monthly listings of the highest con- firmed efficiencies for a range of photovoltaic cell and module technologies. 1–3 By providing guidelines for the inclusion of results into these tables, this not only provides an authoritative summary of the cur- rent state of the art, but also encourages researchers to seek independent confirmation of results and to report results on a standardised basis. In the present article, new results since January 2004 are briefly reviewed. The most important criterion for inclusion of results into the tables is that they must have been measured by a recognised test centre listed in an earlier issue. 2 A distinction is made between three different eligible areas: total area; aperture area and designated illumination area. 1 ‘Active area’ efficiencies are not included. There are also certain minimum values of the area sought for the different device types (above 005 cm 2 for a concentrator cell, 1 cm 2 for a one-sun cell, and 800 cm 2 for a module). 1 Results are reported for cells and modules made from different semiconductors and for sub-categories within each semiconductor grouping (e.g., crystalline, polycrystalline and thin film). NEW RESULTS Highest confirmed cell and module results are reported in Tables I, II and IV. Any changes in the tables from those previously published 3 are set in bold type. Table I summarises the best measurements for cells and sub- modules, Table II shows the best results for modules and Table IV shows the best results for concentrator cells and concentrator modules. Table III contains what might be described as ‘notable exceptions’. While not con- forming to the requirements to be recognised as a class record, the cells and modules in this table have notable characteristics that will be of interest to sections of the photovoltaic community, with entries based on their Copyright # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 15 June 2004 * Correspondence to: Martin A. Green, Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. y E-mail: m.green@unsw.edu.au Research