Total-area world-record efficiency of 27.03% for 350.0 cm2 commercial-sized single-junction silicon solar cells

Abstract

Performance improvement is the cornerstone to facilitate the healthy and sustainable development of photovoltaic industry. Meanwhile, the aesthetics of solar panels becomes growingly concerned with the continuously improved requirements from customers. Accordingly, developing the modules having both a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) and better aesthetic appearance is increasingly important. The structural advantage of back contact (BC) silicon solar cells, having a grid-line-free front surface, endows them with an exceptionally aesthetic appearance and the highest theoretical PCE among single-junction silicon solar cells. Fully utilizing these structural features is crucial for achieving high performance and gaining an insight into their industrial potential. Here, a facile double-sided light management strategy, incorporating hierarchical micro/submicrotextured pyramids on the sunny side and nanostructured polished surface in the rear gap region to reduce optical losses and improve appearance uniformity, has been developed on tunnel oxide passivated back contact (TBC) solar cells, to create a record total-area PCE of 27.03% for 350.0 cm2 commercial-sized single-junction silicon solar cells. In addition, the low bifaciality factor that is the main short slab for BC technology is overcome by our TBC devices with the bifaciality factor of > 80%.