Imec's perovskite/silicon solar module reaches 23.9% efficiency

Belgian research centre Imec has announced that it has boosted the performance of its its 4 cm2 perovskite/silicon tandem photovoltaic module to a power conversion efficiency of 23.9%. According to Imec, this is the first time that a module-on-cell stack structure has outperformed a standalone silicon solar cell.

Imec reaches record efficiency of perovskite-based module image

'Two innovations are key to this achievement,' said group leader for thin-film photovoltaics at imec and perovskite PV program manager at Solliance. 'First, a different perovskite material (CsFAPbIBr) was used, largely improving the stability and conversion efficiency of the 4 cm 2 semi-transparent perovskite module to 15.3%. Second, the architecture of the stack was optimized for minimal optical losses by adding an anti-reflection texture on top of the module and a refractive index matching liquid between the perovskite module and the Si solar cell.'

'Having matched areas of this (4 cm 2) size makes the fabrication technology more attractive to the solar cell industry,' commented Aernouts. 'For reference, we have also fabricated a stack of a small perovskite cell (0.13 cm 2) on top of an IBC c-Si cell (4 cm 2). In this configuration, the power conversion efficiency of the small semi-transparent perovskite cell is 16.7%, outperforming the larger 4cm2 perovskite module due to better perovskite layer properties. Although less attractive from an industrial point of view, the overall power conversion efficiency of this cell-on-cell stack is as high as 25.3%.'
Posted: Aug 11,2017 by Roni Peleg