PXP (Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture), a joint venture company developing flexible thin-film solar cells, announced on July 2 that it has produced a practical-sized flexible perovskite/chalcopyrite tandem solar cell prototype. It consists of 24 solar cells approximately 4 cm square connected in parallel, and the conversion efficiency was not disclosed because the aim is to confirm operation over a large area.
Flexible perovskite/chalcopyrite tandem solar cells
(source: PXP)
To date, the company is conducting research and development to improve the efficiency of Gen2 technology (parallel perovskite/chalcopyrite) and achieve a conversion efficiency of 26.5%. Recently, in order to put tandem solar cells into practical use as soon as possible, we have initiated comprehensive research and development to improve efficiency, increase durability, increase surface area, and develop mass production technology. Regarding durability, the company said that the individual durability against light and high temperature is already high enough, and they are currently researching a new structure that can solve the aggregate degradation that occurs when exposed to light and high temperature. .
Structure and characteristics of 4-pole parallel type and 2-pole parallel type
(Source: PXP)
Regarding the area increase, we can currently only produce about 4 cm in size due to equipment limitations, but we plan to update the equipment to be able to produce up to about 16 cm in size by the end of 2024. By adopting a technology similar to Gen1 (single-layer chalcopyrite) technology that allows cells (electric generating elements) to be freely aligned and connected, it is expected that m (meter) layer patterns can be produced in any size.
In terms of mass production technology development, we are working on developing a technology that uses a dry process to directly form a homogeneous perovskite solar cell on top of a chalcopyrite solar cell below. The company is currently producing a 4-terminal tandem type, in which the perovskite and chalcopyrite are formed on separate substrates and are wired with 2 wires each for a total of 4 wires, but it is also possible to form the perovskite and chalcopyrite on separate substrates and wires with the challenging 2-terminal tandem technology. The 2-terminal tandem type is said to be the most difficult structure but has the lowest cost (information page for the perovskite solar cell workshop held on July 17).
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