Researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Supplies Science and Expertise (Empa) have developed a brand new low-temperature manufacturing course of for bifacial thin-film photo voltaic cells primarily based on copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). This resulted in a report yield of 19.8% for entrance lighting and 10.9% for rear lighting.
From pv journal in France
Researchers from Empa have developed a brand new low-temperature manufacturing course of that produces CIGS bifacial thin-film photo voltaic cells with an effectivity yield of 19.8% for the entrance gentle and 10.9% for the again gentle. lights
“It is vitally troublesome to get good power conversion effectivity for photo voltaic cells with clear conductive contacts on the back and front,” stated Ayodhya Tiwari, the chief of Empa’s thin-film PV lab.
Excessive-efficiency CIGS photo voltaic cells are often made in a high-temperature deposition course of. At temperatures above 550 C, a chemical response happens, leading to a gallium oxide interface layer that blocks the present circulate generated by daylight. This reduces the power conversion effectivity of the cell.
The Empa crew has developed a brand new low-temperature deposition course of that produces much less gallium oxide, paving the way in which for larger cell efficiencies. They used a small quantity of silver to decrease the melting level of the CIGS alloy and obtain absorber layers with good digital properties at a deposition temperature of solely 350 C. They analyzed the multi-layered construction utilizing high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and didn’t detect any gallium oxide on the interface.
The cell achieves effectivity values of 19.8% for entrance illumination and 10.9% for again illumination. The Fraunhofer Institute for Photo voltaic Power Methods (ISE) independently verified the values by utilizing the identical cell on a glass substrate, in line with Empa.
The crew additionally succeeded in making a bifacial CIGS photo voltaic cell on a versatile polymer substrate. Scientists say they hope it’ll increase the spectrum of potential functions for such cells, as a result of lightness and suppleness of the supplies.
The researchers additionally developed a bifacial GICS-perovskite tandem cell. They printed their findings in “Effectivity enhance of bifacial Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film photo voltaic cells for versatile and tandem functions with silver-assisted low-temperature course of,” not too long ago simply printed on Pure Power.
“Bifacial CIGS expertise has the potential to supply power conversion efficiencies of greater than 33%, opening up new potentialities for thin-film photo voltaic cells sooner or later,” stated Tiwari.
He’s now attempting to ascertain collaborative relationships with main laboratories and corporations throughout Europe to facilitate technological growth and industrial manufacturing on a bigger scale.
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