perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed Longi’s achievement of a world record-breaking efficiency rating of 33.9% for a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell.

The Japanese electronic manufacturer said this is the world’s highest efficiency for a stacked solar cell that combines a tandem double-junction solar cell and a silicon solar cell.

US scientists have achieved a breakthrough in PV cell tech by creating a 24 cm2 perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. It positions a lithium fluoride interlayer between a hole transport layer and the perovskite absorber to reduce shunting losses.

Qcells says it is building a pilot line for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells that will start operations later this year in South Korea. It is working closely with its team in Germany, where it has already established another pilot line for tandem cells.

Kaneka’s two-terminal tandem perovskite solar cell has achieved the highest efficiency ever recorded for such a device based on an industrial Czochralski (CZ) silicon wafer. It has an open-circuit voltage of 1.929 V, a short-circuit current density of 19.5 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 77.55%.

Scientists in the Netherlands have developed a new crystalline solar cell based on poly-SiOx passivating contacts. The poly-SiOx tech results in a 20% efficiency rating, but 4T tandem perovskite-silicon solar cells based on the poly-SiOx cell can reach an efficiency of 28.1%, and 2T tandem perovskite-silicon devices can hit 23.2%.

International researchers have developed a silicon heterojunction PV cell with textured surfaces to accommodate the perovskite top cell. They optimized the rear transparent electrode to collect as much albedo as possible and achieved five different perovskite bandgaps by altering the iodide-to-bromide ratio in the perovskites, resulting in a higher open-circuit voltage.

An international team has developed an integrated solar flow battery which has been suggested as ideal for off-grid locations. The device, which combines energy conversion and storage in one unit, can be used for lighting and recharging cell phones.