Researchers from Kyushu University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz achieved what percentage efficiency breakthrough in solar cells in March 2026?

In March 2026, researchers from Kyushu University in Japan and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany announced a significant breakthrough in solar cell research, achieving approximately 130% quantum efficiency. This remarkable figure refers to the quantum yield, a measure of how many charge carriers (electrons) are generated for every photon of light absorbed by the material. Traditionally, one photon creates at most one electron, leading to a theoretical quantum efficiency limit of 100%.

The ability to surpass 100% quantum efficiency stems from a process known as singlet fission. In this phenomenon, a single high-energy photon absorbed by a specialized material can generate not one, but two excited energy carriers, or excitons. This essentially doubles the potential energy harnessed from each photon, pushing the quantum efficiency beyond the conventional limit. The team utilized a molybdenum-based metal complex, acting as a "spin-flip" emitter, to facilitate this energy multiplication.

This advancement is particularly exciting because it challenges the long-standing Shockley-Queisser limit, which sets a theoretical maximum efficiency of around 33% for traditional single-junction silicon solar cells under standard conditions. By generating more than one electron per photon, singlet fission offers a pathway to significantly higher overall solar energy conversion. While the 130% efficiency was achieved in a solution as a proof of concept, rather than in a fully operational solar panel, it represents a crucial step toward developing next-generation photovoltaic technologies that could dramatically improve how we capture sunlight.