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by olegkikin 3039 days ago
Your numbers are outdated. Thin film = 23%, multi-junction are 46%.

"Standard PV" is probably what's available in bulk and cheap, is around 22-25%.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PVeff%28...

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Those are best in class research cell efficiency for each technology type. The silicon cell based panels you can buy now are 17.5-22% unless you are spending a lot of money.

Special thin films cells in a lab may be 23%, what you can buy economically for a grid scale utility power plant is more like 14-15%.

This is at the very top end of the thin film market for what is now commercially available, and is 17%. See datasheet.

http://www.firstsolar.com/en/Modules/Series-6