The consortium says it plans to develop a simplified approach and best practices to produce 2T perovskite-silicon tandem solar products. The modules must have a bifacial design, glass-glass encapsulation and more than 300 W/m2 power.
“With our work, we want to define a simplified approach produces 2T perovskite-silicon tandem solar products,” TNO researcher Gianluca Coletti said pv magazine. “The monolithic tandem cell technology we developed utilizes commercial PERC crystalline silicon cells on the flat front, which avoids the complexity of dealing with the silicon surface structure.”
The module has a bifacial design and glass-glass encapsulation, which the consortium said is ideal for protecting the perovskite cells from moisture. The power of the new product can be more than 300 W/m2, which compared to traditional PERC panels is about 200 W/m2.
The consortium, which also includes South Korean solar panel manufacturer Qcells, initially plans to develop best practices for the production of the proposed module technology. “We want develop tandem modules competitive flat energy costs and industry-leading reliability and performance,” said Jorg Muller, Cell Manager R&D at Qcells. “Qcells will deliver its silicon cell expertise to the project with our Benelux team oversees field testing to measure actual energy efficiency and yield.”
The other members of the consortium are Dutch production equipment manufacturer Levitech NL, Dutch photovoltaic equipment manufacturer MIT Thermal Solutions NL, machine manufacturer Temppress and Dutch supplier of extrudable bond layer resins Yparex NL.
TNO is currently developing a four-junction (4T) semi-transparent perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell in collaboration with the Solliance consortium, including Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Belgian research institute Imec. This device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 30.1% in September.
Q Cells and German research institute Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) announced in March that they achieved 28.7% efficiency in a bipolar perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell.
The device is based on a silicon-based cell based on Hanwha Q Cells’ monocrystalline Q.antum half-cell technology and a perovskite-based upper cell.
