Title :
Toward the Practical Limits of Silicon Solar Cells
Author :
Smith, David D. ; Cousins, Peter ; Westerberg, Simon ; De Jesus-Tabajonda, Russelle ; Aniero, Gerly ; Yu-Chen Shen
Author_Institution :
SunPower Corp., San Jose, CA, USA
Abstract :
This paper reports recent efficiency results achieved by SunPower (SPWR) using industrially relevant manufacturing processes and then reexamines the following age-old question: “What efficiency can a single-junction Silicon solar cell suited to large-scale manufacturing achieve?” Through examination of a gap analysis of the SPWR cell and use of other relevant proof-points, insights are provided into the remaining challenges to achieving the practical limits.
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; silicon; solar cells; Si; SunPower; gap analysis; industrially relevant manufacturing processes; large-scale manufacturing; practical limits; silicon solar cells; Loss measurement; Optical losses; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Emitter recombination; minority carrier lifetime; photovoltaic cells; silicon;
Journal_Title :
Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2350695
