VATIS UPDATE Article

Belgian micro and nanoelectronics research center (IMEC) has announced that it has developed a bifa-cial n-PERT solar cell with front-side conversion efficiency of 22.8%. The cell has an average conver-sion efficiency of 22.4%, with the best cell topping 22.8%. The result was internally measured based on a calibrated reference cell used by the photovoltaic calibration laboratory at the Fraunhofer ISE (CalLab), Germany, without specifying whether it was confirmed by an independent entity.

The cell has thin and narrow (< 20 µm) nickel-silver (Ni/Ag) plated fingers on both of its p+ and n+ sides, and that the cell contacts were manufactured in a patented process of simultaneous plating both cell sides. “This cell plating is performed on cassette level (simultaneous plating on a full cas-sette of wafers in a chemical bath) without the need for an electrical contact to be made to the sub-strates,” said IMEC.

IMEC claims that this new cell technology has the potential for a low cost-of-ownership at module level, less than $0.30/W. In particular, IMEC cites the very limited use of silver, along with the potential for multi-wire interconnection schemes, as the main factors that could lead to a low cost production process. IMEC announced a 22.02% efficiency for its n-type PERT cell in January 2015.