ANU Cell With 96.3% Bifacial Factor

• ANU scientists have claimed to have developed a world record for selectively laser-doped solar cells
• They have achieved 24.3% front, and 23.4% rear conversion efficiency for bifacial solar cell
• Independently verified by CSIRO, the efficiency also comes with a bifacial factor of 96.3%

Using laser doping technology to fabricate solar cells, a team of researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have been able to achieve a front conversion efficiency of 24.3% and a rear conversion efficiency of 23.4% for bifacial solar cell. It comes with a bifacial factor of 96.3%.

"This performance represents an effective power output of approximately 29 per cent, well exceeding the performance of the best single-sided silicon solar cell," the researchers said. However, the ANU release did not say what kind of c-Si cell technology was used.

Chief Investigator of the project, Dr. Marco Ernst called it a world record for selectively laser-doped solar cells and among the highest efficiency bifacial solar cells.

They claim laser doping helped them locally to increase electrical conductivity and that it is a low-cost, industry-compatible process to boost solar cell efficiency.

Without sharing too many details of the research, Principal Investigator Dr. Kean Chern Fong said, "We have developed what I would call a true bifacial solar cell, as it has nearly symmetrical power generation capacity on both surfaces of the device."

Results of their claim are independently verified by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and the work is supported by the Australian government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), and the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP).

TaiyangNews has put under the microscope the latest on bifacial solar cells and modules in a recent report, which is accessible for free (see Bifacial Solar 2021 – Part 1: Cells & Module).