Source: ImecSource: ImecNanoelectronics, energy and digital technology developer Imec reports a record conversion efficiency of 27.1 percent for a four-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem photovoltaic cell. The achievement outpaces the most efficient standalone silicon solar cell and brings the promise of 30 percent efficiency perovskite cells within reach.

The new tandem device stacks a 0.13 cm², spin-coated, perovskite cell on top of a 4 cm² industrial, interdigitated, back-contact (IBC) silicon cell. The four-terminal design delivers a higher annual energy yield compared to a two-terminal configuration. A tandem efficiency of 25.3 percent was also documented by scaling up the tandem device with a 4 cm2 perovskite module on a 4 cm2 IBC silicon cell.

The researchers attributed the gain to successful efforts that tuned the perovskite absorber bandgap for optimal efficiency in the tandem arrangement.

To contact the author of this article, email shimmelstein@globalspec.com