Solar developers in the US and Europe are improving Perovskite and tandem efficiency and bringing them into the commercial space. Financial support in the US Inflation Reduction Act and a new package of measures pledged by the European Union last month should help perovskite developers move from pilot to commercial-scale factories.
While global module supply is currently dominated by established
monocrystalline silicon wafer technology, silicon-based cells are approaching
their theoretical limit and perovskite technologies have rapidly improved.
The theoretical conversion limit for silicon cells is around 29%
and tandem silicon-perovskite cells could increase this to 43%.

Oxford PV plans to commercialise perovskite-on-silicon tandem
cell this year, predicting an efficiency of 27% and an energy yield of 24%,
compared with a yield of around 20%-22% for most of the silicon panels
currently on the market. The company targets to expand its production to 10GW by the end
of the decade.
Additionally, IPVF solar institute has partnered with French
manufacturer Voltec Solar to build a solar panel factory that will produce
Tandem 4T Perovskite/Silicon cells. The partners plan to start production in
2025 and ramp up capacity to 5GW by 2030.
Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have
recorded a 30.3% conversion efficiency for a test-size perovskite-silicon
tandem solar cell.
The tandem solar cell is made by stacking a perovskite layer on
top of a silicon solar cell, which ultimately increases the amount of light
that can be absorbed and used by the cell. The project is supported by the
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through the Australian Centre for
Advanced Photovoltaics.
With these tandem solar cells, the perovskite top cell can
efficiently absorb the blue light and transmit the red light to the silicon
bottom cell, producing significantly more energy from sunlight than each
individual device.

In late December 2022, research centre Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
(HZB) in Germany also achieved a 32.5% efficiency world record for
perovskite-silicon tandem cells that was certified by the European Solar Test
Installation in Italy.
Last year, European researchers have also broken a record of
30.1% efficiency by combining a perovskite solar cell with silicon based solar
cell configuration. The result was presented during the 8th World Conference on
Photovoltaic Energy Conversion in Milan, Italy.
The efficiency of the perovskite solar cells have been improved
to 19.7%, certified by standardisation organisation ESTI.
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU
Singapore) have produced a less environmentally damaging perovskite solar cell
in a laboratory, removing the need for the lead which had previously been used. The researchers have replaced the traditional toxic lead with a zinc-based capping layer on a perovskite solar cell.
Chinese solar manufacturer Risen Energy has reached a new world
record of 23.89% on its Hyper-ion heterojunction technology (HJT) solar module
and reaching to a maximum power output of 741.456W.
The results were approved by TÜV SÜD, a testing, inspection and
certification provider headquartered in Munich. Risen recorded a previous
efficiency of 23.65% for HJT in December 2021.
The module is capable of maintaining over 90% of its power
output over 30 years due to its extremely stable temperature coefficient and
high bifaciality of up to 85%.
The improvements in efficiency come from the use of an
ultra-thin wafer, zero busbar technology, hyper-link interconnection and
encapsulation material.
The company plans to expand its production of Hyper-ion HJT
cells and modules to 15GW this year.
Spanish utility Iberdrola and Spanish solar PV manufacturer
Exiom have signed an agreement partnership to build a module manufacturing
facility in Spain with an initial annual capacity of 500MW.
The partners plan to invest EUR20m (US$21.3m) in the new
facility to produce tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules. Located in the Asturian region of Langreo, the manufacturing
plant will create 115 direct jobs and contribute to the economic revival of the
mining regions in Asturias this year.
Exiom has two module manufacturing plants in China and expects
the launch of a solar panel production facility in Spain could lead to further
expansion here, with the possibility to extend to more components of the supply
chain and doubling the capacity with a second line.
Trina Solar has reported a new world record aperture efficiency
of 24.24%, based on 66 pcs of 210mm × 210mm for industrial large-area n-type
i-TOPCon modules.

Trina Solar’s researchers have developed multi-busbar and novel
encapsulation technologies, together with non-destructive laser cutting
technology to improve module efficiency. Trina brought the maximum aperture
efficiency of 24.24% for large area 600W+ modules with an area of 2.807 m2.
The Chinese solar panel manufacturer plans to continue the next
generation of high-efficiency n-type technology. Trina Solar’s n-type modules
has been recognized by the market since 2018 and widely used in utility power
stations and C&I power plants.
Earlier, Germany’s AE Solar unveils new n-type tunnel oxide
passivated contacts (TOPCon) solar panel with 22.2% efficiency. The new panel
has an operating range between -40C to 85C with a temperature coefficient of
-0.35% per degree Celsius and come with a 30-year power output guarantee for
87.4% of the initial yield, based on the company’s statement.