For solar panels, it’s soLAR so good, but what does the future hold, and how will the technology advance?
Every year, new innovations are pushing solar panel technology further, making it more effective for homes looking to improve their efficiency and sustainability.
This means greater savings on energy bills, lower carbon emissions, and even less reliance on the grid for electricity.
Exciting stuff, right? We’re betting you want to hear all about it too.
Read on to learn more about the latest advancements in solar panel technology, from how far solar panel technology has come, what the future looks like, and what the most advanced solar panels you can buy right now.
PS We offer MCS-certified solar panel installation nationwide. Simply answer these questions, get your fixed price and arrange your free design.
Key Points
The first ever solar cells were invented all the way back in 1883.
New materials for creating solar cells are being developed all the time.
The most efficient commercially available solar panels reach 24.8%.
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A Brief History of Solar Power Advancements
We might think of solar power as a modern invention, but it has its roots all the way back in 1883, when American inventor Charles Fritts developed the first ever solar cell.
This pioneering invention was little more than a scientific curiosity at the time, and we were a long time away from solar cells being used to power homes and businesses, like they do today.
Efficiency
The very first solar cells barely cracked efficiency ratings of 1-2%. If a modern, 350-watt solar panel had efficiency this low, you’d never be able to power your home with the amount of solar panels you could realistically fit on a roof.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that solar cells started reaching efficiency ratings closer to 5-6%, climbing to 20% in the 1980s, and eventually nearly 48% by 2022.
Of course, these efficiency ratings were all achieved under laboratory conditions. For solar panels you can actually buy for your home, the average efficiency is around 20%, meaning for every five units of solar energy, solar panels will produce one unit of usable electricity.
Solar Panel Technology Advancements in 2025
Big developments are happening in solar panel technology this year, with some key advancements in materials, design, and efficiency taking place.
Perovskite
Perovskite is a synthetic material combined with silicon (the most commonly used material for solar panels currently), and it’s proving to be extremely efficient.
The latest efficiency tests show perovskite solar panels reaching 27%, compared to the 24% or so seen in the very best monocrystalline solar panels.
A 3% increase might not sound like much, but in solar panel terms, every percentage point matters immensely.
Over a period of years, these apparently minor increases can save homeowners hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds on energy bills.
It sounds like we should switch to perovskite for all solar panels, right? Not quite yet, because the material has some issues with stability and doesn't deal well with oxygen, moisture, and heat, leading it to degrade much quicker than silicon-based solar panels.
Still, if this issue can be resolved, perovskite’s impressively high efficiency ratings could transform solar panels in the UK. We’re not blessed with sunshine, so any efficiency improvements will allow solar panels here to generate more electricity when the sun isn’t shining.
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Textured solar cells
This nifty development is a new technique where solar cells are covered with tiny bumps, which increases their total surface area, allowing them to absorb more sunlight.
It’s at the theoretical stage and isn’t being used in solar panels right now, but researchers in Turkey found textured solar cells could capture 66% more sunlight than flat solar cells.
Kesterite solar cells
Kesterite solar cells are an important advancement for thin-film solar panels, a type of solar panel best suited for situations where flexibility is needed.
Made from abundant materials such as copper, zinc, tin, and selenium, kesterite solar cells are easier and cheaper to manufacture than thin-film solar panels using copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS).
In short, CIGS are effective, but hard-to-source materials and face supply bottlenecks in the future. They’re more efficient than kesterite solar cells (though a team in China did achieve 14.2% efficiency with kesterite), but kesterite will be a lot easier to source and produce en masse.
Building-integrated Photovoltaics
Building-integrated Photovoltaics, or BIPV, are essentially building materials capable of generating solar energy. We’ve already seen a pretty wide adoption of BIPVs such as solar tiles, but technology is advancing to extend BIPVs to all sorts of structural elements.
Solar glass, for example, is made from transparent solar cells placed between two strengthened panes of glass.
So you can get all the benefits of letting natural light into a building, while generating clean, solar energy. What’s interesting too is that you can adjust the colour and transparency of the solar glass based on light conditions and energy needs.
In theory, there are so many ways of integrating solar-sensitive materials into buildings that one day, homes could generate enough electricity to power everything inside without actually having solar panels on the roof.
Investment in BIPVs is expected to reach $86.7 billion by 2030, and it's a technology we fully expect to be much more widespread by then.
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Solar Panels That Work After Dark
Yes, believe it or not, but there has been some fascinating research done on getting solar panels to capture solar energy at night.
When the sun heats the Earth during the day, thermal energy is absorbed and then released back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation at night.
These so-called ‘anti-solar panels’ are capable of capturing this energy and converting it into electricity.
The electricity generated is understandably much lower than what solar panels can generate from direct sunlight, but it represents an opportunity to significantly increase renewable energy (especially if it's scaled up, similar to solar panel farms).
One of the largest drawbacks of solar power is its inability to work after dark, so this is an exciting development for sure.
What are the Most Advanced Solar Panels in 2025?
The future of solar panels that work at night and windows powering your washing machine might not be here quite yet, but solar panels in 2025 are more advanced than they’ve ever been.
Let’s take a look at a few of them:
REA Fusion 2
Power output: 400-480 watts
Efficiency: 22-24%
Warranty period: 25 years
Performance warranty: 85% after 25 years
Heat resistance: 0.27% per °C
Cost per panel: £400 to £420
Weight: 22.8kg
Dimensions: 1722mm x 1134 x 30mm
Fusion 2 solar panels from Australian company Renewable Engineering Australia (REA) are among the most advanced money can buy. Its high-efficiency N-type M10 Topcon solar cells give Fusion 2 panels super high efficiency ratings of 22-24%, which is functionally the peak efficiency available right now.
Fusion 2 panels are double-sided as well, which gives them the edge in the sometimes gloomy British weather. It allows these panels to absorb more solar energy in low-light conditions.
Like the best modern solar panels, Fusion 2 is monocrystalline, which also gives them a sleek, black aesthetic we personally believe looks bloody brilliant. They’re certainly a far cry from the old blue solar panels, and you can get them exclusively through Heatable Solar.
PS Did you know that solar panels can be installed on garage roofs and that smart meters are recommended for use with domestic solar arrays.
Longi Hi-MO X10 Scientist
Power output: 670 watts
Efficiency: 24.8%
Warranty period: 15 years
Performance warranty: 84.8% after 25 years
Heat resistance: 0.29% per °C
Weight: 28.5kg
Dimensions: 2382 x 1134 x 30mm
Chinese manufacturer Longi has a reputation for impressive advancements in solar panel technology, including recently breaking the record for the most efficient monocrystalline solar panel. Its Hi-MO X10 Scientist panel has reached an efficiency rating of 24.8% — barely a fraction away from the holy grail of 25%.
At 670 watts, this panel will provide immense amounts of power, though it might be too big for most UK homes to accommodate on their roofs. If you have the space, however, this is a great solar panel and easily one of the most advanced on the market right now.
SunPower Maxeon 7DC 445W
Power output: 445 watts
Efficiency: 24.1%
Warranty period: 40 years
Performance warranty: 87.2% after 25 years
Heat resistance: 0.27% per °C
Weight: 20.7kg
Dimensions: 1872 x 1032 x 28mm
SunPower is an American solar panel manufacturer that has made big strides in the way of advancing durability in its products. Specifically, the Maxeon 7DC 445W is among the most durable solar panels you can get in 2025.
The proof is in the product warranty, which at 40 years, is the best we’ve ever seen. It’s clear that SunPower intends its solar panels to stand the test of time, and you can see this in the incredibly low degradation rate. At just 0.25% annually after the first year, the Maxeon 7DC 445W will output 87.2% of its original output after 25 years.
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Should I Wait to Switch to Solar Power?
You might be reading this thinking, well if all these advancements are happening, shouldn’t I wait until better solar panels come out?
Sure, you could, but realistically, the time it’ll take for significantly better solar panels to be developed and made available could be a decade or more.
And that’s a decade you’ll spend not benefiting from all the good today’s solar panels can bring — reduced energy bills, lower carbon emissions, and less reliance on the grid for your electricity. Who doesn’t want more energy independence?
If you want to get an idea for the number of solar panels you’ll need, try our free solar calculator tool and draw on your roof.
Next Steps For Your Solar Journey:
When planning to install solar panels for your home, there are several important factors to consider. Make sure to refer to the following guides to help you make informed decisions:
To dive deeper into these topics, head over to our advice section, check out our YouTube channel for informative videos, or read a customer case study to see how others have benefited from their solar installation.
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