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Shinsung achieves 20.03 percent solar cell efficiency

Korea-based Shinsung Solar Energy has achieved a new crystalline solar cell efficiency of 20.03 percent. The results have been confirmed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

The Korean company is making great efficiency strides.

Flickr/t3mplar

The new efficiency was achieved on a 6 inch p-type Czochralski wafer using Laser Doping Selective Emitter technology. Specifically, Shinsung says it applied heavy doping on the cell’s electrodes, and light doping on the rest of the cell.

"This accordingly has maximized the absorption of light with short-wavelength and thereby increased the flow of electric current," said the company in a statement released. "Furthermore, as this research is applied only to the front side of the solar cell, it is expected that a higher efficiency can be achieved if the processing of the back side is also changed." 

In terms of commercialization, the company adds that just one production step was changed, thus indicating that the new 20.03 percent efficient cell will be easily transferred into mass production.

"The use of the existing screen printing line reduces the cost required for processing and if the optimized commercialization technology is used for mass production, the company is expected to have the strongest competitiveness in the global solar market," continued the statement.