The World´s Largest High Efficency Thin Film Silicon Solar Cell Module

Mitsubishi heavy industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been developed thin film type photovoltaic solar cells as a part of efforts to develop and realize clean, "green" sources of energy. We have been actively working on developing very high frequency (VHP) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technology for large-area, high-speed film deposition with the aim of realizing reduced fabrication costs. As a result of these efforts, MHI has already put into practical use the world\´s largest sized amorphous silicon photovoltaic cell (1.4 m times 1.1 m) with a power generating efficiency of 8%. We are in the process of developing a high-efficiency amorphous-silicon/microcrystalline-silicon tandem thin film photovoltaic module with a power conversion efficiency of a 12%. In basic tests, an initial efficiency of 13.4% (stabilized efficiency of 12%) was attained at small area cells and developing cells with a large area substrate with a target power efficiency of 12%