Corning Incorporated and Oerlikon Solar have announced that they have achieved stabilized conversion efficiency of 11.9% in a silicon-tandem, research-size photovoltaic cell. The record-breaking resul…
Corning Incorporated and Oerlikon Solar have announced that they have achieved stabilized conversion efficiency of 11.9% in a silicon-tandem, research-size photovoltaic cell. The record-breaking results were confirmed by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The resulting solar cell“s energy conversion efficiency, which is based on the unique combination of Oerlikon Solar“s Micromorph technology and Corning“s thin speciality glass, exceeds the current 11.7% industry record set in 2004, and was achieved without the use of antireflective coating. This milestone for Micromorph tandem technology is particularly significant in the advancement of thin-film photovoltaics for the solar energy industry. The 11.9% efficiency achievement is an important step forward in thin-film innovation for our customers, said Jurg Henz, chief executive officer, Oerlikon Solar. We look forward to continued work with Corning on a roadmap to advance this technology to cell efficiencies of 12% and beyond. We are thrilled with the milestone reached through this very strong collaboration between Oerlikon Solar and Corning, noted Gary Calabrese, vice-president, Science and Technology and director, Corning Photovoltaic Glass Technologies. More importantly, we are strongly encouraged by the great opportunities that these advancements make possible for the photovoltaics industry as the combined efforts of these two companies move forward to achieve even higher efficiencies with silicon tandem.