PERC Solar Cells from 100 Percent Recycled Silicon

10-Feb-2022 - Around ten thousand tons of silicon in discarded photovoltaic modules end up on the recycling market annually in Germany. This figure will rise to several hundred thousand tons per year by 2029. Currently, the aluminum, glass and copper of the discarded modules are reprocessed, however, the ...

New Record Efficiency for Tandem Solar Cell Technology

12-Aug-2020 - In the field of photovoltaics, intensive research is being carried out to continually improve solar cell efficiency. Increasingly, the focus is on tandem photovoltaics, in which high-performance solar cell materials are brought together in various combinations in order to use the solar spectrum ...

Two Records for the Efficiency of Silicon-Based Monolithic Triple-Junction Solar Cells

02-Sep-2019 - Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have once again succeeded in raising the efficiency value of monolithic triple-junction solar cells made of silicon and III-V semiconductor materials. Using a combination of multiple absorber materials, these multi-junction ...

Tandem Solar Cells – Record Efficiency for Silicon-based Multi-junction Solar Cell

09-Jan-2019 - Silicon solar cells dominate the photovoltaic market today but the technology approaches the theoretical maximum efficiency that can be achieved with silicon as the only absorber material. Tandem solar cells, on the other hand, combine several absorber materials, enabling a better energetic use ...

Concentrator Photovoltaics Shows Peak Performance – Module Efficiency Reaches 41.4 %

26-Nov-2018 - Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) has by far achieved the highest efficiency for the conversion of sunlight into electricity. The basis for this latest achievement lies in the special multi-junction solar cells as well as the perfect interplay between the cell and the module optics. In the ...

New record: Multi-junction solar cell converts one-third of the sunlight into electricity

06-Apr-2018 - Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE together with the company EV Group (EVG) have developed a new silicon-based multi-junction solar cell, which can convert exactly one-third of the incident sunlight into useful electricity. Silicon solar cells dominate the ...

Low-cost wafers for solar cells

05-Oct-2015 - They sparkle in dark blue on the rooftops. In our homes they give us illumination, while providing lamps, refrigerators and other household appliances with electricity. We are talking about solar cells. A key component of these are thin silicon wafers. The manufacture of these wafers is very time ...

New World Record for Both Sides-Contacted Silicon Solar Cells

25.1 Percent Efficiency with TOPCon Technology

16-Sep-2015 - The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has set a new efficiency record for silicon solar cells. For the first time, an efficiency of 25.1 percent has been measured for a both sides-contacted silicon solar cell. Having a simple rear side contact without any patterning, this type of ...

Solar Cell Contacts From Tubes

Innovative Fine Line Metallization Technology Promises Higher Efficiency Values

20-Oct-2014 - Together with industrial partners Merck, Heraeus and ASYS, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed innovative new materials and contactless techniques for applying ultrafine, homogeneous contact fingers to solar cells. This ‘dispensing’ technology can ...

Anti-aging elixir for solar cells

03-Jul-2012 - Photovoltaic modules deliver power without risks to the environment and climate. But solar-power is expensive. Therefore, it is imperative that the modules last as long as possible, 25 years or more. Fraunhofer researchers in the USA are now investigating materials to protect solar cells from ...