solar

PERC

Also known as: Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell

Legacy crystalline silicon cell architecture that dominated solar from 2018–2023; now superseded by TOPCon.

Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) was the workhorse cell architecture for global solar from 2018 through about 2023. Mass-production efficiency peaked around 23.5%. By 2026, new PERC capacity additions have essentially stopped — TOPCon has become the default upgrade path.

Related terms

TOPCon — Solar cell architecture using a tunnel oxide layer to passivate rear contacts — …
HJT — Solar cell technology combining crystalline and amorphous silicon layers, offeri…

← Back to glossary