TNO, in cooperation with Dutch and German industrial partners, is advancing a perovskite/silicon tandem solar module suitable for early market introduction.
FIT4Market, a four-year research project supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), will help drive CO2 reduction through to 2030, supporting national climate objectives. It is also a step towards bringing PV production back to Europe and rebuilding a competitive PV supply chain.
The project aims at developing a simplified approach of the tandem technology to accelerate market introduction. This consists of building on the experience the partners have gained so far and minimizing the processing complexity.
“The purpose of the collaborative FIT4Market research project is to identify best-practice two-terminal cell development using perovskite and silicon cells in order to develop tandem modules with a competitive LCOE and industry-leading reliability and performance,” says Jorg Muller, Head of cell R&D at Qcells. “Qcells will supply its silicon cell expertise to the project, with our Benelux team overseeing field-testing to measure real world energy performance and yield.”
Maarten Ribbens, Head of Benelux, said: “Qcells current market position is a result of a deep understanding of the addressable market and customer needs. We are extremely excited and happy to be part of this consortium to support the development of this novel solar technology. “
TNO has been developing its tandem technology since 2016 and a handful of industrial partners eventually hope to deploy this technology in mass production. However, tandem PV module technology requires further development at relevant scale before it is industry-ready for introduction into the market.
“The monolithic tandem cell technology used in this project is based on commercial PERC c-Si cells with planar front side, avoiding complexity in dealing with silicon surface texture. The modules will also be bifacial, to increase the current and energy yield and, furthermore, will feature a glass-glass encapsulation for protection of the perovskite cells against moisture", said Gianluca Coletti, program manager of Tandem Technology and Applications at TNO.
The FIT4Market project will validate that tandem module based on currently used PERC bottom cells are industrially manufacturable, competitive in efficiency and cost and competitive in stability. Further, field tests will provide data to enhance bankability; and the project will also interact with end-users of the new technology. The Dutch PV market is especially keen for innovative products due to limited availability of land in the Netherlands, and the opportunity to optimally utilize commercial rooftops for power generation. All these will provide support for further deployment of the technology in Europe. It is expected that as a result, PV module power conversion efficiency can reach over 300Wp/m2 (conventional modules today perform in the lower 200Wp/m2 range).
The FIT4Market consortium combines expertise and knowledge from Dutch and German organizations. TNO acts as the coordinator of the project and will further develop large area perovskite on silicon bottom cells. SMIT Thermal Solutions will develop a model framework for scaling further to multi-wafer processing. A screen-printed top contact will be added. This perovskite process incorporates an atomic layer deposition step contributed by Levitech. Qcells will provide the bottom cells, with contributions by Tempress and TNO for the emitter technology. TNO will apply industrial module interconnection and encapsulation compatible with perovskite requirements. Yparex will optimize encapsulants for best compatibility with the perovskite material properties. Further, Qcells Benelux will test the tandem laminates in the field.
The project is co-funded by the Topsector Energy subsidy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, implemented by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
In 2022, Qcells and a European research group (led by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)) jointly established a pilot manufacturing line for silicon-perovskite tandem cells in Thalheim, Germany. The project aims to speed up the technology’s mass manufacturing and market penetration. The project began on 1 November.