Sunpower’s CEO Peter Faricy has announced that the US solar installer is co-operating with Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe) solar manufacturer First Solar concerning development of a Silicon-CdTe tandem solar module, which should be available in 18 to 24 months’ time, intended for the residential market. Speaking at a March 31st Analyst Day presentation, Faricy stated that First Solar’s thin film technology would sit atop a layer of crystalline silicon cells in a “stacked tandem”. That means the two semiconductors remain in separate cells, united at the module level, a less advanced approach than that promised by researchers, but also a more practical one. Faricy’s boast that this is “the most advanced residential solar panel yet seen” is still accurate because it will…