Solar cell efficiency is not going to stop in the 20% range. It is going to blow past it into the 30’s and further. It seems that multiple layers of materials are the way to make this happen. Certain physics says silicon on its own cannot break 32%. Well, what about two silicons? 🙂 Or in some cases, it could be perovskites, or geranium or thin film solar – or a whole host of various materials. What matters though folks – the research train is not going to stop, and in fact – its going to increase as the global money spent on solar continues to increase.

SOURCER&D goal to develop a commercially viable thin-film-on-silicon tandem solar cell with 30% conversion efficiencies. SERIS researchers will collaborate with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) of NRF on both III-V and perovskite materials, while SERIS will develop optimized silicon bottom cells. Recently in 2017, the R&D centre commercialised and licensed an advanced tool design and layer formation method – called “monoPoly technology” – for silicon solar cells with passivated contacts and  produced the world’s first full-size bifacial module with IBC (interdigitated back contact) solar cells.

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