High-efficiency heterojunction crystalline Si solar cells

Yamamoto, Kenji; Yoshikawa, Kunta; Uzu, Hisashi; Adachi, Daisuke

doi:10.7567/jjap.57.08rb20

Cited by 127 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The first of five new results in Table (one‐sun “notable exceptions”) is reinstatement of a result reported earlier in Version 47 of these tables. An efficiency of 25.1% was reported for a large 152‐cm 2 n‐type silicon cell fabricated by Kaneka (Osaka, Japan) and confirmed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (FhG‐ISE). This efficiency is the highest reported for a large silicon cell with the two different polarity contacts on opposite front and rear cell surfaces and is reinstated to encourage competition in this commercially relevant space.…”

Section: New Resultsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 54)

Green

Dunlop

Levi

et al. 2019

Progress in Photovoltaics

1,273

408

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Section: New Resultsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 54)

Green

Dunlop

Levi

et al. 2019

Progress in Photovoltaics

1,273

408

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These device concepts further reduce the surface recombination on both surfaces, as well as Auger recombination in the highly doped emitter regions. Our simulation assumed values that are an order of magnitude below those of the advanced PERC+ for emitter doping concentration and SRVs (both front and rear [27].…”

Section: Pv Device Simulation: Effect Of Wafer Thickness On Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

Liu

Sofia

Laine

et al. 2020

Energy Environ. Sci.

100

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Crystalline silicon comprises 90% of the global photovoltaics (PV) market and has sustained a nearly 30% cumulative annual growth rate, yet comprises less than 2% of electricity capacity. To sustain this growth trajectory, continued cost and capital expenditure (capex) reductions are needed. Thinning the silicon wafer well below the industry-standard 160 µm, in principle reduces both manufacturing cost and capex, and accelerates economicallysustainable expansion of PV manufacturing. In this Analysis piece, we explore two questions surrounding adoption of thin silicon wafers: (a) what are the market benefits of thin wafers? (b) what are the technological challenges to adopt thin wafers? In this Analysis, we re-evaluate the benefits and challenges of thin Si for current and future PV modules using a comprehensive technoeconomic framework that couples device simulation, bottom-up cost modeling, and a sustainable cash-flow growth model. When adopting an advanced technology concept that features sufficiently good surface passivation, the same high efficiencies are achievable for both 50-µm wafers and 160-µm ones. We then quantify the economic benefits for thin Si wafers in terms of poly-Si-to-module manufacturing capex, module cost, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility PV systems. Particularly, LCOE favors thinner wafers for all investigated device architectures, and can potentially be reduced by more than 5% from the value of 160-µm wafers. With further improvements in module efficiency, an advanced device concept with 50-µm wafers could potentially reduce manufacturing capex by 48%, module cost by 28%, and LCOE by 24%. Furthermore, we apply a sustainable growth model to investigate PV deployment scenarios in 2030. It is found that the state-of-theart industry concept could not achieve the climate targets even with very aggressive financial scenarios, therefore the capex reduction benefit of thin wafers is advantageous to facilitate faster PV adoption. Lastly, we discuss the remaining technological challenges and areas for innovation to enable high-yield manufacturing of high-efficiency PV modules with thin Si wafers. Broader ContextClimate change is among the greatest challenges facing humankind today. Given the urgency of transitioning to a carbon-neutral energy system, we need to accelerate the deployment of existing renewable technology in the near term. With rapid technological progress and cost decline, silicon photovoltaics (PV) modules is a proven technology to be deployed to a multi-terawatt scale by 2030. Despite the high growth rate in the past decade, the capital-intense nature of silicon PV manufacturing hinders the sustainable growth of the industry. Today, the most significant contribution to capital expenditure (capex) of PV module fabrication still comes from silicon wafer itself. Reducing wafer thickness would have a proportionate effect on wafer and poly capex; however, wafer thickness reduction has been much slower than anticipated. This study revisits the concept of wafer thinning...

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“…The PV module market is dominated by c‐Si technology with a market share of about 95%, whereas thin‐film technology, mainly cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), has a market share of about 5% 2 . While the theoretical PCE limit of c‐Si solar cells is 29.4%, 3 the record c‐Si solar cell efficiency to date was achieved by Kaneka for an Interdigitated Back‐Contact Silicon Heterojunction (IBC‐SHJ) solar cell with 26.7% 4 . Best production cell efficiencies are reached by SunPower with about 25% for IBC technology 5 and mainstream c‐Si Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) in production reaches ca.…”

Section: Current Pv Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

IPVF's PV technology vision for 2030

Oberbeck

Alvino²,

Goraya

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Current single-junction crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are approaching their power conversion efficiency (PCE) limit. Tandem solar cells are expected to overcome such efficiency limit, with perovskite on c-Si tandems being a promising candidate for commercialization over the next years. This work aims atdescribing the conditions that tandem cells and modules need to fulfill to successfully enter the market in 2030.We first estimate that industrial c-Si photovoltaic modules may reach a price level of about 15 c$/W in 2030 at a PCE of 22-24%, with an expected lifetime of 30 years and an annual degradation of 0.5%. For commercial relevance, we anticipate that tandem module efficiencies need to be increased to reach around 30%, while matching lifetime and degradation rate of c-Si modules. Provided these conditions, we find that these tandem modules could then have a cost bonus of around 5-10 c $/W compared to c-Si modules for reaching equal levelized cost of energyvalues.

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High-efficiency heterojunction crystalline Si solar cells

Cited by 127 publications

References 35 publications

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 54)

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 54)

Revisiting thin silicon for photovoltaics: a technoeconomic perspective

IPVF's PV technology vision for 2030

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