Advanced Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics Research Program

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The project aims at developing advanced solar cells that utilize silicon-based photovoltaic structures. The main objective is to achieve devices and modules that are competitive in terms of manufacturing cost and improved efficiencies. The overall IMEC PV program follows a well-defined roadmap (International Technology Roadmap for PV (ITRPV) towards the reduction of the main figure of merit for terrestrial solar cells. The roadmap aims at cutting the costs of manufacturing by using thinner crystalline silicon films, while also working to improve cell efficiencies. This goal can be reached by using manufacturing techniques that can be easily adopted into existing commercial production lines. The adopted PV structures and technologies (i-Perx, ii-BC and ii-module platforms) will be further advanced through the proposed research program to achieve more mature and advanced solar cell modules with a competitive value