On June 7th, 2011, Silfab SpA (Padova, Italy) and the International Solar Energy Research Center (ISC) Konstanz e.V. (Konstanz, Germany) announced that they have achieved a conversion efficiency greater than 19% on large area solar photovoltaic (PV) cells using a low cost industrial process.

Silfab and ISC Konstanz state that their "Zebra" back-contact monocrystalline silicon PV cells have the potential to exceed 22% conversion efficiency. Silfab also states that it will implement a cell manufacturing pilot line using the technology by the end of 2011.

“The combination of high efficiency, large area n‐type wafers, as well as a low cost process leads to a significant reduction of cell and module production costs, and represents a very important step towards grid parity," said Silfab President and CEO Franco Traverso.

"This is a technological achievement that is made possible by the combination of the long‐term industrial experience of our technical team with the excellence of ISC Konstanz in R&D on photovoltaics, especially n‐type silicon solar cells."

Silfab to use Zebra cells to produce PV modules in 2012

The Zebra concept uses 156 mm x 156 mm n-type monocrystalline wafers as the basis for a back-contact, back-junction cell, with no metalization on the front side.

Silfab and ISC Konstanz state that this gives the cells the potential to overcome a limit of 19-20% for mainstream monocrystalline cell technology.

The organizations note that the Zebra process sequence will use individual process steps that are already implemented in mass production by the PV industry. Silfab plans to use the Zebra cells to build a 60-cell module with peak power exceeding 290 watts in 2012.

2011-06-10| Courtesy: Silfab SpA, ISC Konstanz | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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