Labor for Perovskite-Silicon Photovoltaics Opens

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Applying a 500 nm-thin perovskite cell to a conventional silicon solar cell increases the theoretical efficiency limit from 29.4% to 43.3%. To pave the way for the industrial implementation of this tandem technology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) today opened a new laboratory called Pero-Si-Scale.

To pave the way for the industrial implementation of tandem solar cells, Fraunhofer ISE has opened a new laboratory.
To pave the way for the industrial implementation of tandem solar cells, Fraunhofer ISE has opened a new laboratory. Photo: Fraunhofer ISE/Michael Spiegelhalter

The new Pero-Si-Scale facility builds on developments achieved at the laboratory stage (technology readiness levels TRL1–TRL4) and transfers the cell designs to industrial cell formats up to a wafer size of 210 × 210 mm using scalable manufacturing processes. In addition to developing perovskite-silicon solar cells and modules and the processes required for their production, the laboratory also provides a characterization and analysis environment.

“The new laboratory infrastructure builds on 20 years of experience in industry-oriented silicon photovoltaic development at the Photovoltaic Technology Evaluation Center PV-Tec,” says Priv.-Doz. Dr. Ralf Preu, Division Director for Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE. “PV-Tec also ensures the supply of optimized silicon bottom cells for Pero-Si-Scale, as well as close integration with today’s production processes.”

For the production of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, ISE relies on a hybrid process route combining vacuum and wet-chemical processes. This approach makes it possible to continue using standard silicon solar cells from industrial production.

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