New residential solar panels deliver record-breaking efficiency

The solar panels developed by startup Insolight boast an impressive 29% yield - a record for the retail market. These systems, which have now been standardized for mass production, contain lenses that focus sunlight on tiny high-yield photovoltaic cells, employing what is a pioneering approach for the solar-power industry. All rooftop solar panels look pretty much the same from the outside: same size, same thickness and even the same installation system. But on the inside, the solar panels developed by EPFL spin-off Insolight stand apart. They deliver yields of 29% - nearly twice as much as the others currently on the market (which have yields of 17-19% ). Insolight's panels, which were recently tested by an independent lab, use a patented optical system that concentrates sunlight on a kind of miniature photovoltaic cell normally used in satellites Boosting efficiency while keeping a lid on costs Studies have shown that the average yield on commercial solar panels has increased by just 3.5 percentage points since the 2000s and seemed to be reaching a plateau. But Insolight's three founders - Mathieu Ackermann, Laurent Coulot and Florian Gerlich - wanted to push yields further and decided to try something radically different: build residential solar panels that employ the same kinds of cells used in satellites, which are very efficient but also very expensive.