For more than a decade, monocrystalline PERC was the workhorse of the solar industry. But the technology map has changed dramatically. The latest market data suggests that the industry has already crossed a major transition point: n-type technologies, led by TOPCon, have moved from an emerging alternative to the mainstream.
According to the IEA PVPS Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2025, p-type PERC accounted for approximately 64% of global cell production in 2023. Just one year later, its share had fallen to around 20%, while TOPCon-type crystalline silicon cells rose from about 30% to 70%. (IEA-PVPS)
That is not a gradual technology transition. It is a structural shift.
Why is TOPCon gaining ground?
The attraction of n-type TOPCon is not simply higher nameplate wattage. Its advantage comes from the underlying cell architecture, which reduces recombination losses and enables higher conversion efficiency. The technology also fits naturally with bifacial module designs, increasingly important as developers seek greater energy yield from the same project footprint.
The broader market is already reflecting this shift. IEA PVPS reports that n-type technologies represented about 70% of global production in 2024, while bifacial modules accounted for more than 75% of production. (IEA-PVPS)
Fraunhofer ISE’s latest Photovoltaics Report similarly identifies n-type TOPCon as a dominant technology in the rapidly expanding crystalline-silicon market. (Fraunhofer ISE)
Is PERC disappearing?
Not immediately.
PERC still has a substantial installed manufacturing base, established supply chains and extensive field experience. In India, the transition is also less uniform than the global headline figures suggest. Mercom India reported that, at the end of 2024, monocrystalline modules—with or without PERC—represented almost 59% of India’s module manufacturing capacity, although TOPCon was already the next major technology category. (Mercomindia.com)
The direction of new investment, however, is increasingly important. India’s manufacturing expansion is increasingly being designed around n-type architectures. A notable example is Premier Energies’ newly commissioned 7 GW n-type TOPCon G12R cell facility, taking its total cell manufacturing capacity to 10.6 GW. (The Financial Express)
Efficiency is only part of the story
The latest ITRPV data points to another important development: n-type products are no longer necessarily a premium niche. The 2026 roadmap reports that TOPCon module efficiency has reached around 23.5%, compared with approximately 21.7% for p-type mono-PERC, while TOPCon-based back-contact modules reach around 24.1%. It also notes that the historical price premium for n-type and bifacial products has largely disappeared. (PV Tech)
That combination—higher efficiency plus declining technology premiums—makes the transition particularly significant for project economics.
But n-type is not without questions. Fraunhofer ISE has investigated UV-induced degradation in TOPCon modules and found that conventional laboratory tests can overstate degradation because some modules recover substantially after exposure and stabilization. The institute says further research is needed to understand long-term field behaviour. (Fraunhofer ISE)
What comes next?
The evidence suggests that Mono PERC is moving from the industry’s growth technology toward a mature, declining platform, rather than disappearing overnight. TOPCon currently occupies the centre of the market transition, but it is unlikely to be the final destination.
ITRPV projects continued growth of back-contact technologies and silicon-based tandem cells over the coming decade, while TOPCon remains an important mass-market architecture. (TaiyangNews – All About Solar Power)
For manufacturers, developers and buyers, therefore, the more useful question may no longer be “PERC or TOPCon?” but how quickly the next generation of n-type and higher-efficiency architectures can deliver reliable lifetime energy at competitive cost.
The n-type takeover is already visible in production data. The next battle will be fought on efficiency, reliability, bankability and cost per unit of lifetime energy—not simply watts on a datasheet.
Sources: IEA PVPS, Fraunhofer ISE, ITRPV/VDMA, MNRE and Mercom India.
IEA PVPS – Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2025 · Fraunhofer ISE – Photovoltaics Report · MNRE – ALMM (IEA-PVPS)
