Chinese solar cell equipment maker Maxwell and Australian metallization technology company SunDrive have announced a full area conversion efficiency of 26.07% for a heterojunction (HJT) solar cell based on M6 wafer size, made using a mass manufacturing process and no silver.
SunDrive used Maxwell's latest production ready equipment to apply copper technology to HJT precursors instead of silver which brings down the cost as well.
Germany's Institute for Solar Energy Hamelin (ISFH) has certified the claim which opens up the feasibility of mass production efficiency of HJT cells to exceed 26%, claims the duo. The efficiency level was achieved with improved short-circuit current (lsc), open-circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) of certified cells. Together, they said they will further explore the potential of mass production efficiency of HJT cells using mass produced equipment and technologies.
It is 0.53% higher than SunDrive's 25.54% efficiency record for commercial size silicon solar cells announced last year (see 25.54% Efficiency For Silicon Solar Cell).
SunDrive's CEO Vince Allen explained the importance of this achievement saying that the practical efficiency limit of PERC is only 27% and theoretical 29%. At the same time, improvements will become increasingly difficult to achieve as efficiencies approach this limit which makes it imperative to bring in a newer technology which could be HJT or TOPCon. The Australian startup is of course betting on HJT.
Pushing PERC cells to its limits is the subject of a TaiyangNews virtual conference to be held on March 22, 2022 with leading cell research, production equipment and process material suppliers. Registration is free and can be done here.
In our December 2021 High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference, HJT was one of the subjects of discussion where participants praised the potential of this technology that's likely to bring down costs in the near future (see Day 2: High Efficiency Solar Technologies).