Qcells has become the first company to receive certifications from UL Standards & Engagement (UL) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for its silicon-perovskite tandem solar technology. German technical advisory firm TÜV Rheinland verified that the technology meets the requirements of the IEC and UL 61215 standards - a set of benchmarks that assess the technical reliability and bankability of solar technologies, and which can be seen as obstacles to commercializing perovskite tandem products.
The tested cells and modules came from Qcells' pilot production line in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany. The company stressed that the products were fabricated using exclusively mass-production processes for both cell and module manufacturing - suggesting the certified devices are representative of what a commercial line could produce rather than bespoke laboratory samples. The Bitterfeld-Wolfen site receives funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and the European Union through the PEPPERONI project.
Qcells' tandem products use a two-terminal configuration, pairing a perovskite top layer with a silicon bottom cell based on the company's proprietary Q.ANTUM passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) architecture. The certified modules used tandem solar cells on full-area M10 substrates. A cell built with this configuration reached a power conversion efficiency of 28.6% in December 2024.
Fabian Fertig, head of tandem R&D at Qcells Germany, said that reaching these milestones brings the company closer to launching a product that is reliable, cost-effective and higher-performing. Qcells added that the certifications show it is approaching delivery of a product meeting the stability and standardization measures that determine commercial readiness.
