Fraunhofer ISE again holds PV world record; Silicon solar cell with 21.9 percent efficiency

 

As in the years from 2004 to 2015, Fraunhofer ISE again holds the world’s record for multi-crystalline silicon.

The record solar cell consists of n-type high performance multi-crystalline silicon, or HP mc-Si. Compared to p-type silicon, this material shows a higher tolerance to impurities, especially iron.

The industrial production today uses multi-crystalline p-type silicon material with average solar cell efficiencies of about 19 percent. The new material and technology approaches applied by Fraunhofer ISE for the record cell have the potential to improve the efficiency of multi-crystalline silicon even further in the near future.

From material to cell technology

“We are very happy about this excellent result, which is due largely to the fact that Fraunhofer ISE’s expertise runs along the entire value chain of silicon photovoltaics,“ says the institute Director, Dr. Andreas Bett.

“At the Institute our expertise spans the entire range from the crystallization of silicon through to the quality assurance of PV power plants. The research areas of material development, characterization and cell technology all played a part in the development of the world record cell.”

The various research groups at Fraunhofer ISE consulted continuously, optimizing the material and the cell process in tandem. Dr. Stephan Riepe, Head of the Group “Silicon – Crystallization and Epitaxy,” explains the procedure as follows: “In our Silicon Material Technology Center SIMTEC, we adjusted the crystallization process with the goal of creating a material optimized for the planned solar cell processing procedure. We worked closely and in constant exchange with our colleagues until we all achieved our common target of world record efficiency.”

The work of the ambitious researchers at Fraunhofer ISE, however, continues further. The “multiTOP” project, in which the record cell was achieved, continues to run up to March 2018.

The project is headed by Dr. Jan Benick, Team Leader of Innovative Clean Room Technologies for High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells. He looks into the future:

“Our goal is to develop an advanced cell technology for the n-type multi-crystalline wafer that really demonstrates its full potential. The question is, how far can we get to closing the efficiency gap to monocrystalline material.”

The colleagues in solar cell characterization acted as a decisive link between the researchers in materials and cell technology. Dr. Martin Schubert, Department Head of Characterization and Simulation assumed the role of navigator: 

source: http://www.solarserver.com