South Korea-based Qcells and a European research group (led by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)) have 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.
The so-called "Pepperoni project" will establish a pilot manufacturing line in Thalheim, Qcell’s headquarters in Germany. The name stems from the broader project titled ‘Pilot line for European Production of PEROvskite-Silicon taNdem modules on Industrial scale' or PEPPERONI.
The silicon-perovskite tandem cells will have a bottom silicon cell based on Qcell’s Q.ANTUM technology. “The project aims to scale up the active area of perovskite/Si tandems from the 1cm2 of today’s record devices to industry-relevant dimensions,” the group said in a statement.
The project will identify and address barriers to speeding up the technology’s mass manufacturing and market penetration. One of the project’s goals is to minimize scaling losses by using innovative materials and equipment. It will also develop thin-film deposition processers and equipment, with the ultimate goal of building a new production capacity in Europe.
“At HZB we have developed the tandem technology to world-record efficiency level on lab scale,” said Bernd Stannowski, head of group industry compatible processes at HZB. “We are now looking forward to cooperate in the Pepperoni consortium with partners from science and industry to jointly scale this new and very promising technology up and transfer it to industry.”
The four-year project is partly funded by Horizon Europe, to a total of €14.5 million ($14.9 million). It includes 17 partners from 12 countries across Europe, with a key objective to demonstrate 26%-efficient modules or higher on industrial scale