Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Solar Energy News .




SOLAR DAILY
New world record efficiency for thin film silicon solar cells
by Staff Writers
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 14, 2013


Record efficiency with less than 2 micrometers of silicium. Credit: PVLab / EPFL

The Photovoltaics-Laboratory (PV-Lab) of EPFL's Insitute of Microengineering (IMT), founded in 1984 by Prof. Arvind Shah and now headed by Prof. Christophe Ballif, is well known as a pioneer in the development of thin-film silicon solar cells, and as a precursor in the use of microcrystalline silicon as a photoactive material in thin-film silicon photovoltaic (TF-Si PV) devices.

A remarkable step was achieved by the team led by Dr. Fanny Meillaud and Dr. Matthieu Despeisse with a new world record efficiency of 10.7% for a single-junction microcrystalline silicon solar cell, independently confirmed at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE CalLab PV Cells) in Freiburg (Germany).

"Deep understanding has been gained these last years in material quality, efficient light-trapping and cell design, which in combination with careful process optimization led to this remarkable world-record efficiency" says Simon Hanni, PhD student at IMT Neuchatel.

Importantly, the employed processes can be up-scaled to the module level. While standard wafer-based crystalline silicon PV technology implements absorber layers with a thickness of about 180 micrometers for module conversion efficiency of 15 to 20%, 10.7% efficiency was reached here with only 1.8 micrometers of silicon material, i.e. 100 times less material than for conventional technologies, and with cell fabrication temperature never exceeding 200 C.

Thin-film silicon technology indeed offers the advantages of saving up on raw material and offering low energy payback time, thus allowing module production prices as low as 35 euro/m2, reaching the price level of standard roof tiles.

The reported progress is of paramount importance for increasing further TF-Si PV devices efficiency and potential, as at least one microcrystalline silicon junction is systematically used in combination with an amorphous silicon junction to form multiple junction devices for a broader use of the solar spectrum.

The reported record efficiency clearly indicates that the potential of TF-Si multi-junction devices can be extended to > 13.5% conversion efficiency with a minimum usage of abundant and non-toxic raw material at low costs (TF-Si PV modules implementing in their simplest form two glasses and few microns of zinc and of silicon for an easy recycling).

Work leading to this result was supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the EU-FP7 program, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).

.


Related Links
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SOLAR DAILY
Trina Solar Ranked No. 1 in Australia
Changzhou, China (SPX) Feb 14, 2013
Trina Solar has announced that it has achieved the No. 1 position in Australia's PV market. According to a new report from Solar Business Services ("Australian PV - Technology and Brands 2013"), Trina Solar was the most popular solar panel brand in Australia during 2012, accounting for 100MW of installations. The rise to the top position is attributed to the success of its high-performing ... read more


SOLAR DAILY
Newly discovered plant structure may lead to improved biofuel processing

Hydrothermal liquefaction - the most promising path to a sustainable bio-oil production

Scientists turn toxic by-product into biofuel booster

Reaping Profits from Landfill Biogas

SOLAR DAILY
Insect drives robot to track down smells

Foundation Helps Promote New Robotics Teams Worldwide

Engineers Building Hard-working Mining Robot

Robofish Grace glides with the greatest of ease

SOLAR DAILY
Gone with the wind: French scheme targets farting cows

Mainstream Renewable Power Starts Building Wind Farm in Chile

Sabotage may have felled U.K. wind turbine

Hgcapital And Blue Energy Agree UK Wind Farm Investment Deal

SOLAR DAILY
Nissan profit tumbles on China, Europe woes

Japan's Suzuki sees April-December net profit rise 19%

Japan's Mazda swings back to profit

China auto sales hit record in January: industry group

SOLAR DAILY
IEA to improve Chinese oil demand stats

Queensland approves shale development

Russia to tap global LNG market

Can Leak Detection End the Pipeline Impasse

SOLAR DAILY
Roof collapses at Chernobyl nuclear plant: Ukraine

Fukushima survivors to sue Japan government

Finland's TVO says reactor may be delayed until 2016

France debates nuke waste facility

SOLAR DAILY
Bulgarians protest high energy costs

Genscape Announces Strategic Partnership with Murex to Create Supply of QAP-A RINS

Diageo Transitions to 100 Percent Renewable Electricity at its North American HQ

China plans stricter fuel standards after smog

SOLAR DAILY
Lungs of the planet reveal their true sensitivity to global warming

Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline

Tree die-off triggered by hotter temperatures

Taiwan's 'King of the Trees' fights for the forests




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement