A solar cell that converts more than 28 percent of sunlight into electricity is no longer a laboratory curiosity — it is the new benchmark in a fast-moving race. JA, the photovoltaic manufacturer, says the hybrid back-contact cell used in its HyperGen modules has achieved a conversion efficiency of 28.38 percent, tested by TÜV Rheinland, setting what the company describes as a world record for back-contact cell efficiency.
FAKTA
- New figure: 28.38 percent conversion efficiency for JA’s hybrid back-contact cell, tested by TÜV Rheinland.
- Previous JA record: 28.2 percent, achieved in May 2026 by HyperGen hybrid back-contact cells developed with Gold Stone.
- Technology: back-contact design moves electrical contacts to the rear of the cell, freeing the front surface to capture more light.
- Storage fund: RMB 1 billion proposed fund, with an 8-year operating period (5-year investment, 3-year exit).
- Fund shares: Shenzhen fund 44.9 percent, Xinneng Industrial Development 22.5 percent, Sungrow 17.4 percent as limited partner, Makesense Energy Technology 15 percent.
Solar cell efficiency record: why back-contact matters
In a conventional solar cell, some electrical contacts sit on the front surface, where they partially block incoming sunlight. Back-contact architectures move those contacts to the rear, increasing the area available to capture light and cutting shading losses. That is why small fractions of a percentage point matter so much: at gigawatt scale, a higher cell efficiency means more power from the same area of panels.
JA’s new result improves on its own May 2026 record of 28.2 percent. The company presented its HyperGen modules during an eight-week roadshow across Europe that began on 2 September 2026, according to TaiyangNews.
The wider race confirms the direction. Rival JinkoSolar reported in October that its TAC back-contact production cells had passed 27 percent, with a peak of 28 percent — although pv magazine noted that announcement carried no third-party certification, test area or average production-line figure, unlike JA’s cited TÜV Rheinland test. Readers should therefore treat company peak figures and independently tested figures as different kinds of claim.
File photo: solar installation work. It does not show JA’s laboratory cell.
Storage grows alongside the panels
Higher-efficiency cells only help if the power they produce can be stored and used when needed. In the same 26 October update, TaiyangNews reports that inverter and storage manufacturer Sungrow has signed an agreement with five other parties, including a subsidiary of Sunwoda, to establish a private equity fund focused on energy storage assets, with total subscribed capital of RMB 1 billion.
The Shenzhen New Energy Storage Industry Equity Fund will contribute RMB 449 million, followed by Xinneng Industrial Development with RMB 225 million, Sungrow as a limited partner with RMB 174 million and Makesense Energy Technology with RMB 150 million, with the two remaining general partners contributing RMB 1 million each. Its investment scope covers energy storage power stations, standalone grid-side storage, green power direct-connection projects and storage assets serving computing-power centres and zero-carbon industrial parks.
Together, the two stories describe the same transition from two sides: cells that squeeze more electricity from sunlight, and storage that makes that electricity available after sunset.
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Conclusion
JA’s 28.38 percent figure, if it holds up to independent scrutiny, pushes back-contact technology closer to the practical limits of silicon cells. The more durable signal may be the storage fund beside it: the industry is now investing as heavily in keeping solar power as in making it.
