Photovoltaics International Papers

Optical confinement is essential in order to increase the amount of photogeneration in a crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell. Fraunhofer examines the compatible options for wafers created using diamond wire sawing.

The deployment of renewable energy, especially solar, is becoming ever more popular. It is estimated that with every 1% increase in PV cell efficiency, electricity costs would decrease by 7%; therefore, improving solar cell efficiency is very important for reducing the average electricity-generating cost of solar and driving it towards grid parity.

Bifacial PV technology raises new challenges for the characterization and modelling of solar cells and modules, as well as for the yield predictions of power plants, as the contribution of the rear side can significantly affect the performance of these types of device.

Nowadays, there is a worldwide production capacity of about 5GW of thin-film module technology. In total, an estimated cumulative installed capacity of 15 to 24GW exists (5-8% of 300GW installed worldwide in 2016). But how serious is the threat of PID in this thin-film fleet?

By the end of 2017 it is expected that boron-doped multicrystalline silicon (p-type mc-Si) wafers will have been used in more than 60% of the world’s manufactured solar cells.

Since its first publication in 2015, the PERC+ cell concept, which is based on a passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) design with a screen-printed Al finger grid on the rear, has been rapidly adopted by several solar cell manufacturers worldwide.

In 2015, estimated annual global volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) reached a record 43.8 million metric tons and global e-waste generation is expected to increase up to 50 million metric tons by 2018. Even though solar PV panels significantly differ from typical consumer electronic products, global regulators view PV panels increasingly in the context of e-waste regulations. Solar PV currently accounts for less than 1% of total annual e-waste volumes.

N-type high-performance multicrystalline silicon (HP mc-Si) has proved to have an excellent material quality. This paper presents details of the growth of HP mc-Si, as well as the properties of this material and its use in the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells.

Combined R&D expenditures of 12 major PV module manufacturers in 2016, tracked since 2007, decline by approximately 4.4% in 2016 to US$519.3 million (see Figure 1), compared to US$542.9 million in 2015.

Today, silicon solar cells are still produced in almost equal shares from mono- and multi-crystalline silicon wafers. The authors here look at the scope for efficiencies in the wire sawing process for multi-crystalline silicon.