Flexible solar cells with record efficiency of 22.2%.

• Empa scientists have, once again, enhanced the efficiency of CIGS flexible solar cells. Separately certified measurements disclosed a power conversion performance of 22.2% to transform light into electrical energy, a renovation from their previous record value of 21.4%.

To contrast, the most effective effectiveness of a stiff crystalline silicon solar cell is 26.7%. The group of Romain Carron, team leader in Empa's Laboratory for Thin Films and also Photovoltaics headed by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, presented their newest outcomes at the 8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC-8) on 26 September 2022 in Milano, Italy.

These flexible solar cells are refined on a polymer film with the Cu( In, Ga) Se2 semiconductor layer that absorbs the light deposited by a low-temperature co-evaporation approach. Empa scientist Shiro Nishiwaki changed the make-up of the layer to improve the device performance and also outcome voltage.

" 2 strategies [were] explored to alloy the crystal supplied comparable improvements in gadget performance," said Romain Carron. Consequently, the findings can be transferred at industrial range complying with various executions, with equivalent outcomes. The solar cell efficiency of 22.2% was separately determined at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Power Solution ISE in Freiburg, Germany.

Setting brand-new records for 23 years.

Ayodhya Tiwari as well as his team are performing research on flexible thin film solar cells for greater than 23 years. With their profound knowledge of the innovation as well as the basic physical procedures, they have actually achieved a number of performance records throughout the years.

Their "record series" started with 12.8% in 1999, transferred to 14.1% (2005 ), 17.6% (2010 ), 18.7% (2011 ), 20.4% (2013 ), with more current progression to 20.8% in 2019 and 21.4% in 2021. In the routine of high effectiveness limits, every tiny increment needs mindful examination of the elements that limit the performance, and also requires cutting-edge technique to get over the obstacle. The present improvement in performance is attributed to alloying the light absorbing semiconductor layer to boost the digital homes.

Flexible and also light-weight solar modules with this modern technology are especially suited for applications on roofings and also facades of buildings, greenhouses, vehicles, airships and also portable electronic devices. Empa collaborates with Swiss business Flisom for roll-to-roll production of light-weight flexible solar modules for such applications. The study was supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).