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OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)
Tue Jan 5, 2016, 03:51 PM Jan 2016

NREL and CSEM Jointly Set New Efficiency Record with Dual-Junction Solar Cell

http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2016/21613
[font face=Serif][font size=5]NREL and CSEM Jointly Set New Efficiency Record with Dual-Junction Solar Cell[/font]

January 5, 2016

[font size=3]Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) have jointly set a new world record for converting non-concentrated (1-sun) sunlight into electricity using a dual-junction III-V/Si solar cell.

The newly certified record conversion efficiency of 29.8 percent was set using a top cell made of gallium indium phosphide developed by NREL, and a bottom cell made of crystalline silicon developed by CSEM using silicon heterojunction technology. The two cells were made separately and then stacked by NREL. The record was published in "Solar cell efficiency tables."

"It's a record within this mechanically stacked category," said David Young, a senior researcher at NREL. "The performance of the dual-junction device exceeded the theoretical limit of 29.4 percent for crystalline silicon solar cells."



A new design for the dual-junction solar cell and the contributions from CSEM were key to setting the record. These first collaboration results further indicate that even greater efficiency can be achieved by the combination of NREL and CSEM cells.

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