- ICS claims its SEO film when applied on silicon HJT cells has shown to improve module power generation by 3.8%
- The film was tested at Fraunhofer ISE on minimodules that showed absolute increase in module efficiency by 0.66% to 0.75%, corresponding to 3.3% and 3.8% relative improvement
- It claims that as an improvement on transparent bifacial modules or alternative to the gapless solution currently applied by some module manufacturers, the efficiency gains can exceed 3.5%
Finland based technology company Intelligent Control Systems Ltd (ICS) says its patented solar energy optics (SEO) light redirecting film has helped achieve power improvement of 3.8% in solar modules with silicon heterojunction (HJT) cells. It claims this has the potential to be a game changer for high efficiency PV modules.
The SEO film is applied to the inside of the HJT module front glass which then helps redirect light from the less efficient edges into the more efficient regions of the cells. The company believes this is an economical way to mitigate known losses in the edge area of these cells.
“PV module optimization with SEO film is a cost-effective way to improve module power and efficiency,” said CTO of ICS, Kari Rinko. “We are providing a manufacturable solution with added Wp costs well below the regular module cost for both residential and utility formats.”
According to ICS, the SEO film was tested in minimodules at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE). The team assembled 4 M6 half-cut HJT solar cells with 1.7mm cell and 2mm string gaps into modules with 2 different SEO film configurations. The film overlapped the cell edges by 0.5mm and 1mm respectively.
Solar cells for this research were used ‘out-of-the-box, without any additional modification or sorting’. Using this configuration, the team says it recorded an absolute increase in module efficiency by 0.66% to 0.75%, corresponding to 3.3% and 3.8% relative improvement.
This increase was due to increased solar cell efficiency by minimizing edge recombination losses, and an improved utilization of light from inactive module areas, explains the team.
Detailed optical simulation models of the solar modules and the SEO film, validated with experimental data, shows this SEO film application to a 120- or 144-cell module with 2mm cell gaps and a white backsheet can provide an efficiency boost of 2.6 % relative improvement, or two power classes, it adds.
Further, ICS claims that as an improvement on transparent bifacial modules or alternative to the gapless solution currently applied by some module manufacturers, the efficiency gains can exceed 3.5%.
