Selectively Coated Ribbon (SCR) cell connection material achieve an average gain of 1.9 W in conventional 60-cell solar modules. This ribbon product can be used in industrial PV module manufacturing with no need for system modification and at no extra cost, said Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and silver paste supplier for solar cells Heraeus.
Sharing the results of their joint research on SCR that was checked by Fraunhofer at its accredited TestLab PV modules, Heraeus said 'the new connector has the best chance of asserting itself on the module market' as a drop-in replacement in industrial process lines.
SCR reflects the light indirectly onto the cell surface, leading to an increase in performance, irrespective of the angle of incidence. Fraunhofer then used its software tool SmartCalc.CTM to assess exact calculation of the performance gain in advance.
"The CTM (Cell-to-Module) analysis showed a power gain of 1.85 W by increasing the internal reflection. Module measurements on a preliminary series showed an average power increase of 1.9 W, thus confirming the results of the CTM calculation," said Fraunhofer ISE.
The German testing agency said this development work is part of the CONNECT Combined Metallization and Connection Technology for Efficient PV Modules project, funded by the country's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
In September 2018, Heraeus announced a joint manufacturing and sales partnership agreement with Ulbrich Solar Technologies to manufacture SCR and sell it in Europe, Russia, Turkey, Middle East, Mexico and United States. (see Heraeus Partners With Ulbrich Solar For SCR).
TaiyangNews recently published its Advanced Solar Module Technology Report 2018, which show the latest commercially available products from leading suppliers and also discusses ways to improve CTM of for solar modules.