EV Group (EVG) has announced it is showcasing its latest innovations for improving performance and reducing costs of next-generation PV cells and modules at Intersolar North America this week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

Among these innovations is EVG's ComBond wafer bonding technology, which enables covalent bonds between heterogeneous materials at room temperature. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE recently announced that it teamed up with EVG to develop equipment and process technology based on EVG's ComBond technology to enable electrically conductive and optically transparent direct wafer bonds at room temperature.

According to a statement by Dr. Frank Dimroth, Head of department III-V - Epitaxy and Solar Cells of Fraunhofer ISE, "Using direct semiconductor bond technology developed in cooperation with EVG, we expect that the best material choices for multi-junction solar cell devices will become available and allow us to increase the conversion efficiency toward 50 percent."

At Intersolar, EVG will share a booth with Brisbane Materials Technology (BMT), a specialty materials company that EVG is collaborating with to provide a total solution for anti-reflective (AR) coatings for the PV market.

Under a strategic cooperation agreement, EVG optimized its large-area coating systems for BMT's unique materials and processes, enabling high-yield fabrication of AR coatings with industry-leading performance and cost. EVG's innovative technology is compatible with all existing PV-module and solar glass manufacturing lines.

EVG will also showcase its thin-wafer handling solutions, which support the processing of thinner (sub-150 micron) crystalline silicon wafers that are extremely fragile and prone to breakage.

In addition, EVG will highlight its nanoimprint lithography solutions, which can create textures on the surface of the PV cell that reduce reflection and optimize forward scattering, as well as create reflection layers at the backside of the cells that enable light trapping, to increase cell efficiency.