[Stockholm, Sweden, and Sydney, Australia] Swedish solar energy company, Midsummer, has been chosen to be part of a research project, led by the University of New South Wales in Sydney, aiming to reach 30% efficiency in Si/CIGS tandem solar cells. The project has been awarded AUD $3.08m ($8.21m USD) from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), with a total project budget of AUD $11.55m ($7.55m EUR). The project also includes the world’s leading solar panel manufacturers.
The research project will be carried out on the Midsummer UNO research machine, which was previously purchased by the University of New South Wales, for the production of thin-film solar cells. The objective is to produce a highly efficient and stable tandem solar cell using already commercialized technologies. By combining different semiconductor materials in one device, tandem solar cells are capable of absorbing different areas of the solar spectrum, resulting in a more efficient cell. The goal of the project is to achieve over 30% efficiency, higher than the current efficiency of mass-produced silicon panels at around 20% and thin film panels, such as CIGS, which are slightly lower.
The UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering is one of the leading solar research institutes globally, and UNSW Professor Xiaojing Hao, who heads the project, states that the project will "provide next-generation, high-performance, durable and cost-effective tandem cells that can be rapidly scaled up."
Midsummer’s CEO, Sven Lindström, said that “as Midsummer's DUO system already today uses the same solar cell size as silicon solar cells, it would be the obvious production tool choice when the world's largest solar panels manufacturers want to commercialize tandem solar cells on a large scale.” High-bandgap CIGS cells, which can be manufactured on Midsummer's machines, have demonstrated among the highest efficiencies for potential peak cells to combine with silicon and have the advantage of a very long lifetime as well as already proven scalability in mass production.
Silicon-based tandem solar cells are seen as the primary track to commercialize solar panels with over 30% efficiency, and the use of silicon and chalcogenide has the best conditions for rapid commercialization, as they are two stable and proven technologies.
