MiaSolé and Solliance have achieved record performance by optimizing the bandgap and the efficiency of both the rigid semi-transparent perovskite top cell and the flexible CIGS bottom cell.
MiaSolé Hi-Tech, a U.S. unit of Hanergy, and the European Solliance Solar Research (Solliance), which is a consortium based in the Netherlands, have achieved a 26.5% power conversion efficiency for a solar cell combining two different thin-film PV technologies in a tandem configuration.
“This impressive efficiency was achieved by optimizing the bandgap and the efficiency of both the rigid semi-transparent perovskite top cell and the flexible CIGS bottom cell,” the research group said, adding that the results represent a world record for such a cell.
MiaSolé’s 20%-efficient CIGS cell was fabricated in a roll-to-roll process on steel foil. The 17.5%-efficient semi-transparent perovskite solar cell was developed on glass.
The perovskite device, which was placed on top of the tandem structure, was designed to maximize the visible light conversion, while also maximizing the infrared light transparency, in order to allow the majority of infrared light to reach the bottom CIGS cell.
“This approach resulted in an efficiency of 17.5% for the top device, measured at the maximum powerpoint, tracked for five minutes,” the scientists said.
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Solliance and the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) said in March 2018 that they had recorded a 26.3% efficiency rate on a transparent perovskite solar cell combined with a crystalline silicon solar cell. A month later, Solliance also announced a new record performance for large-area perovskite modules, with a 14.5% conversion efficiency level.
In January 2019, Solliance achieved a 21.5% efficiency rate for a flexible copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) tandem solar cell based on perovskite. In November 2019, MiaSolé announced a new record of 18.64% for a flexible CIGS cell. The landmark achievement represents a significant improvement on the previous record of 17.44%, set five months earlier.
Hanergy and Solliance first teamed up in April 2017, when they signed a memorandum of understanding to strategically collaborate in the area of integrated solar solutions for buildings and infrastructure.
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Source: pv magazine
