Imec hits 27.1% efficiency with its new perovskite-silicon tandem PV cell

Imec, the leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics, energy and digital technology, within the partnership of EnergyVille, announced a record result for its 4-terminal perovskite/silicon tandem photovoltaic cell. In fact, with a reported power conversion efficiency of 27.1%, the new tandem cell tops the most efficient standalone silicon solar cell. Further careful engineering of the Perovskite material will bring efficiencies over 30% in reach.

Imec's new record tandem cell uses a 0.13 cm² spin-coated perovskite cell developed within the Solliance cooperation, stacked on top of a 4 cm² industrial interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon cell in a 4-terminal configuration, which is known to have a higher annual energy yield compared to a 2-terminal configuration. Additionally, scaling up the tandem device by using a 4 cm² perovskite module on a 4 cm² IBC silicon cell, a tandem efficiency of 25.3% was achieved, surpassing the stand-alone efficiency of the silicon cell.

Manoj Jaysankar, doctoral researcher at imec/EnergyVille, adds: 'We have been working on this tandem technology for two years now, and the biggest difference with previous versions is in the engineering and processing of the perovskite absorber, tuning its bandgap to optimize the efficiency for tandem configuration with silicon.'

'Adding perovskite on top of industrial silicon PV may prove to be the most cost-effective approach to further improve the efficiency of photovoltaics,' concludes Tom Aernouts, group leader for thin-film photovoltaics at imec/EnergyVille. 'Therefore, we invite all companies in the PV value chain that are looking into higher efficiencies, to partner with us and explore this promising path.'