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					</table><p>Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (<a href="https://www.nrel.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NREL</a>) have proposed enhancing cell and module efficiency to record levels, scale manufacturing, address reliability, and durability issues, and figure out the design of hybrid tandem solar modules to better commercialize them.</p>
<p>Tandem cells, which combine two or more junctions, are recognized for their potential to achieve much higher efficiencies—over 40% under ideal conditions—compared to single-junction cells. Despite this, the commercial scalability of these cells continues to be hindered by the need for improved material properties, better integration techniques, and solving the durability and reliability issues.</p>
<p>In a recently published study in the journal <em>Joule</em>, the researchers have outlined a pathway by reviewing the current state of photovoltaic (PV) technologies and proposed a roadmap for overcoming the challenges. Through this, the team was able to effectively map the fundamental aspects of the cells and also identify the technical hurdles that needed to be navigated to improve the commercial viability of the tandem cells.</p>
<p>As per the researchers, most solar modules currently in use depend on a single junction, which can only absorb a fraction of the solar spectrum, limiting their efficiency. Tandem solar cells, when stacked together, hold the potential to reach higher efficiencies.</p>
<p>Tandem cells also come with their own challenges. ‘For single-junction PV materials, modules are made by interconnecting individual cells laterally in series. For tandems, there are multiple options to interconnect the cells, which provides another layer of complexity to the design of tandem modules,” said co-author Emily Warren, a staff scientist in the High-Efficiency Crystalline Photovoltaics group at NREL.</p>
<p>The roadmap they charted focuses on combining two or more different PV technologies — hybrid tandems — to provide maximum efficiency. These are further divided into top cells and bottom cells.</p>
<p>The researchers have also found that only three single-junction PV technologies were successfully scaled up to at least a gigawatt production.</p>
<p>Inroads have been made by solar cells from copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe). CIGS is suitable for a bottom cell and CdTe as a top.</p>
<p>However, the commercialization trajectories between silicon and thin-film cells made of CIGS and CdTe inform the challenges that must be overcome to establish a gigawatt-scale tandem technology. Silicon PV benefitted from a steady influx of investments by the semiconductor community, resulting in shared knowledge and standardized processes.</p>
<p>For CIGS and CdTe, companies have guarded their processes and deposition techniques as they attempt to make headway against silicon PV.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-65754 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1.jpg" alt="Cell level configurations" width="936" height="748" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1.jpg 936w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1-300x240.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1-768x614.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1-650x519.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1-624x499.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1-600x479.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" /></p>
<p>For the top cell, the roadmap also vouches for the potential of other materials such as Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium indium phosphide (GaInP)- both of which are known for their highest efficiency in single-junction devices. However, they are expensive, and the researchers at NREL were keen to search for cheaper manufacturing methods.</p>
<p>“Metal halide perovskites provide high enough efficiencies as a top cell and are also cost-effective enough to incorporate that the tandem would have much higher efficiencies than the single-junction cells of either technology,” said Kirstin Alberi, the lead author of Joule.</p>
<p>For the bottom cell, silicon is an obvious choice that is currently dominating the solar industry. The researchers claim that a tandem cell consisting of these top and bottom cells currently holds the record for efficiency. Further, this can be an important driver for lowering the total system cost by reducing the area of the system and the associated balance of system costs.</p>
<p>With these benefits, the study has placed tandem cells on the roadmap of PV manufacturers and has predicted that the cells will reach 2% of the market share by 2030.</p>
<p>“Existing consortia have proven to be immensely helpful in the development and commercialization of single-junction PV technologies because they can help in information sharing, advocating for cross-cutting research that will help the field as a whole, and focusing larger sets of stakeholders to work together to solve problems that impact the entire field,” said Alberi.</p>
<p>The authors have sought to enable researchers and manufacturers to collaborate and address important aspects of tandem design, reliability, and scaling to facilitate progress in mass commercialization.</p>
<p>Last month, researchers from the National University of Singapore <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/record-efficiency-tandem-solar-cell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a record energy conversion efficiency of 27.1% in a triple-junction tandem solar cell that they developed.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, scientists from the University of Michigan also <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/bulky-molecules-perovskite-solar-last-longer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that adding bulky additives can improve the stability of perovskite solar cells and make them last longer.</p>


NREL’s Roadmap to Make Tandem Solar Cells Commercially Viable


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					</table><p>Researchers at the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a> and the <a href="https://www.asu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona State University</a> have discovered a method to help reduce the shunting issue mainly found in perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells.</p>
<p>Perovskite silicon tandems are used to absorb high-energy light, with a silicon-made bottom cell specifically for absorbing lower-energy infrared rays, making their application popular in solar energy generation.</p>
<p>However, the main challenge for upscaling perovskite-silicon tandems is the non-uniformity of perovskites across large areas of tandem cells, which can cause shunting. This is a significant issue when large-area tandems are fabricated through a solution process.</p>
<p>The new method helps make large tandem cells on silicon wafers using a blading process that is still compatible with industry standards.</p>
<p>Crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) technology has dominated the PV market due to its increasing efficiency and decreasing costs, especially in the last two decades amidst advancing renewable energy technologies as it allows for efficient energy conversion.</p>
<p>However, the power conversion efficiency of silicon cells has reached a theoretical limit, making it important to transition single-junction silicon PV technology to tandems to surpass it. The transition requires the tandem technology to demonstrate high efficiency, manufacturability, and long-term stability akin to silicon.</p>
<p>While few existing studies have reported using Czochralski (CZ) c-Si to make efficient tandems, there are still no reports of large-area tandem fabrication employing CZ c-Si as bottom solar cells. The new study published by the researchers aims to address that.</p>
<p>The team inserted a lithium fluoride interlayer, significantly reducing the electricity shunting issue for large-area tandems when deposited on the hole transport layer side. This further decreased local current drains and improved interfacial contact at the perovskite interface.</p>
<p>Through this, they were able to stabilize the power conversion efficiency of 25.1% achieved for tandem devices with a larger aperture area of 24 sq cm.</p>
<p>In July 2023, researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-achieve-over-30-efficiency-perovskite-solar-cells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">achieved</a> 30% efficiency for tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells, surpassing the efficiency milestone.</p>
<p>Scientists at the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/iit-26-efficiency-perovskite-silicon-solar-cell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> to have achieved a power conversion efficiency of more than 26% for a four terminal-silicon perovskite tandem solar cell.</p>


Researchers Find Solution for Shunting in Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Cells


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					</table><p>Scientists at the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (<a href="https://www.iitb.ac.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IIT Bombay</a>) claimed to have achieved a power conversion efficiency of more than 26% for a 4 terminal (4T)-silicon perovskite tandem solar cell.</p>
<p>To overcome perovskite stability issues, the IIT research team initially fabricated a transparent perovskite cell to near-infrared and low-frequency light.</p>
<p>The work titled Stable and Efficient Large-Area 4T Si/perovskite Tandem Photovoltaics with Sputtered Transparent Contact is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2367198x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RRL Solar</a>.</p>
<p>A 4T tandem device has four terminals, two for each of the tandem device&#8217;s layers, allowing precise measurements of the solar cell’s performance while also improving the device’s efficiency and lifetime.</p>
<p>While the perovskite solar cell alone in the experiment exhibited a higher efficiency of 16% for a larger area of 0.805cm2, the teams demonstrated a much higher energy conversion efficiency by layering the perovskite cells atop a commercially available PERC (passivated emitter and rear contact) silicon solar cell.</p>
<p>While perovskite solar cells are highly efficient in converting light into electricity and their production is inexpensive, they lag in performance compared to conventional silicon solar cells. Also, perovskites degrade over time when exposed to direct sunlight for longer durations, directly affecting energy production.</p>
<p>The tandem approach has become the go-to solution to many solar cell studies worldwide as it allows combining both the perovskite and silicon solar cells to attain enhanced efficiency.</p>
<p>“Perovskite solar cells are known for their high-power conversion efficiency and lower production cost; however, they are lagging in terms of their stability. However, in our work, we have fabricated a stable 4T (four terminal) Si/perovskite tandem solar cells which provide outstanding stability in the dark as well as continuous heating conditions,” explained the author of the study Dinesh Kabra.</p>
<p>According to Kabra, “In 4T tandem configuration when the top low-cost perovskite solar cells fail, there is a possibility to replace the top cells with a new one because our tandem device is only optically coupled so, it can enhance the lifetime of the overall devices.”</p>
<p>The levelized Cost of Energy is one of the most crucial factors in energy production as it measures the cost of electricity for different methods of electricity generation.</p>
<p>For example, LCOE can be used to calculate how much one can save on the electricity bill by switching to solar power generation. The researchers found that the device developed with perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells also lowered the LCOE for tandem solar cells.</p>
<p>In a similar research, scientists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology claimed to have <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/efficiency-perovskite-silicon-tandem-solar-cells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with a record conversion efficiency of 33.2%.</p>
<p>Last December, IIT Roorkee researchers <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/iit-roorkee-claim-17-efficiency-perovskite-solar-cells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a prototype of a low-cost, high-quality perovskite solar cell that achieved a stable energy conversion efficiency of 17.05%.</p>


IIT Scientists Claim 26% Efficiency for Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cell


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					</table><p><a href="https://midsummer.se/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Midsummer</a>, a Swedish developer, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (<a href="https://www.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UCLA</a>), has developed a four-terminal perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell that has demonstrated an efficiency of 24.9%.</p>
<p>Through a collaborative project with Yang of UCLA, Midsummer has showcased a four-terminal tandem solar cell that combines perovskite and CIGS technologies.</p>
<p>The ongoing research aims to create a two-terminal perovskite-CIGS cell, which would make this solar cell highly competitive and ideal for large-scale production.</p>
<p>This project demonstrates the possibility of constructing a tandem solar cell using Midsummer&#8217;s established production process and the Midsummer DUO machine.</p>
<p>The top cell of the tandem is a perovskite-based one that has been specifically optimized for seamless integration with Midsummer&#8217;s CIGS cells, which are utilized in the company&#8217;s range of commercial BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) products.</p>
<p>Yang said, “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with Midsummer and PMI. Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate two-terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem cells, suitable for mass production.”</p>
<p>The team said the newly developed solar cell has demonstrated impressive efficiency, which is achieved by combining a wide bandgap perovskite cell as the top layer and a CIGS cell as the bottom layer.</p>
<p>The DUO production system is designed to produce high-performance CIGS solar cells that can be made in dimensions of 156mm x 156mm on a flexible stainless-steel substrate.</p>
<p>“Integrating Midsummer’s production-proven CIGS processing with Yang’s Lab tailored perovskite shows a clear path toward expanding the reach of BIPV by improving efficiency and lowering costs,” said Leon Chiu, President of Pioneer Materials, Inc.</p>
<p>Sven Lindström, CEO of Midsummer, said perovskite-CIGS tandem cells have enormous potential for the future of solar energy, and Midsummer&#8217;s solar panel design is particularly well-suited for developing a commercial product for this type of solar panel.</p>
<p>One advantage of Midsummer&#8217;s design is that it includes a diode between each solar cell, which is an essential component for optimal efficiency in a tandem cell configuration. This feature is expected to give Midsummer&#8217;s design an edge in terms of commercial viability and potential for widespread use.</p>
<p>Recently, researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-perovskite-solar-cells-saves-input-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that solar cells made of metal halide perovskites achieve high efficiencies and can be produced from liquid inks with little energy input.</p>
<p>In the same month, Italy-based renewable energy company Enel Green Power, researchers at the National Solar Energy Institute, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-show-tandem-perovskite-solar-cell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> to have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 26.5% for a 2-terminal tandem perovskite solar cell.</p>


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