PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2015; 23:1–9 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/pip.2573
ACCELERATED PUBLICATION
Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 45) Martin A. Green1*, Keith Emery2, Yoshihiro Hishikawa3, Wilhelm Warta4 and Ewan D. Dunlop5 1
Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO, 80401, USA 3 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies (RCPVT), Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8568, Japan 4 Department: Solar Cells—Materials and Technology, Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Heidenhofstr. 2, D-79110 Freiburg, Germany 5 European Commission—Joint Research Centre, Renewable Energy Unit, Institute for Energy, Via E. Fermi 2749, IT-21027 Ispra (VA), Italy 2
ABSTRACT Consolidated tables showing an extensive listing of the highest independently confirmed efficiencies for solar cells and modules are presented. Guidelines for inclusion of results into these tables are outlined and new entries since July 2014 are reviewed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEYWORDS solar cell efficiency; photovoltaic efficiency; energy conversion efficiency *Correspondence Martin A. Green, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. E-mail:
[email protected] Received 23 October 2014; Accepted 27 October 2014
1. INTRODUCTION Since January 1993, “Progress in Photovoltaics” has published six monthly listings of the highest confirmed efficiencies for a range of photovoltaic cell and module technologies [1–3]. By providing guidelines for inclusion of results into these tables, this not only provides an authoritative summary of the current state-of-the-art but also encourages researchers to seek independent confirmation of results and to report results on a standardised basis. In Version 33 of these tables [2], results were updated to the new internationally accepted reference spectrum (IEC 60904-3, Ed. 2, 2008), where this was possible. The most important criterion for inclusion of results into the tables is that they must have been independently measured by a recognised test centre listed elsewhere [1]. A distinction is made between three different eligible definitions of cell area: total area, aperture area and designated illumination area, as also defined elsewhere [1]. “Active area” efficiencies are not included. There are also certain minimum values of the area sought for the different device types (above 0.05 cm2 for a concentrator cell, 1 cm2 for a one-sun cell and 800 cm2 for a module). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Results are reported for cells and modules made from different semiconductors and for sub-categories within each semiconductor grouping (e.g. crystalline, polycrystalline and thin film). From Version 36 onwards, spectral response information is included when available in the form of a plot of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) versus wavelength, either as absolute values or normalised to the peak measured value. Current–voltage (IV) curves have also been included where possible from Version 38 onwards.
2. NEW RESULTS Highest confirmed “one sun” cell and module results are reported in Tables I and II. Any changes in the tables from those previously published [3] are set in bold type. In most cases, a literature reference is provided that describes either the result reported, or a similar result (readers identifying improved references are welcome to submit to the lead author). Table I summarises the best measurements for cells and submodules, while Table II shows the best results for modules. Table III contains what might be described as “notable exceptions”. While not conforming to the requirements to be recognised as 1
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Table I. Confirmed terrestrial cell and submodule efficiencies measured under the global AM1.5 spectrum (1000 W/m ) at 25 °C (IEC 60904-3: 2008, ASTM G-173-03 global). Areab 2 (cm )
Efficiency (%)
Classificationa Silicon Si (crystalline)
25.6 ± 0.5
143.7 (da) 0.740
Si (multicrystalline) 20.8 ± 0.6 Si (thin transfer submodule) 21.2 ± 0.4 Si (thin film minimodule) 10.5 ± 0.3 III–V cells GaAs (thin film) 28.8 ± 0.9 GaAs (multicrystalline) 18.4 ± 0.5 InP (crystalline) 22.1 ± 0.7 Thin film chalcogenide CIGS (cell) 20.5 ± 0.6 CIGS (minimodule) 18.7 ± 0.6 CdTe (cell) 21.0 ± 0.4 Amorphous/microcrystalline Si Si (amorphous) 10.2 ± 0.3k Si (microcrystalline) 11.4 ± 0.3l Dye sensitised Dye 11.9 ± 0.4m Dye (minimodule) 10.0 ± 0.4m
a
41.8d
82.7 80.3 80.3 72.1
AIST (2/14)
Panasonic HIT, rear junction [25] FhG-ISE (11/14)e Trina Solar [4] NREL (4/14) Solexel (35 μm thick) [5,26] FhG-ISE (8/07)g CSG Solar (12% efficiency. 27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 3AO5.1, Frankfurt, September 2012. Zhao J, Wang A, Yun F, Zhang G, Roche DM, Wenham SR, Green MA. 20,000 PERL silicon cells for the "1996 World Solar Challenge" solar car race. Progress in Photovoltaics 1997; 5: 269–276. Swanson R. The role of modeling in SunPower’s commercialization efforts. Presented at Challenges in PV Science, Technology, and Manufacturing: A workshop on the role of theory, modeling and simulation, Purdue University, August 2-3, 2012. www.pvtech.org/news/q_cells_sets_two_new_world_ records_for_multi_crystalline_and_quasi_mono_sol. Mattos LS, Scully SR, Syfu M, Olson E, Linlin Yang, Ling C, Kayes BM, Gang He. New module efficiency record: 23.5% under 1-sun illumination using thin-film single-junction GaAs solar cells. Proceedings of the 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2012.
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42. First Solar press release, 19 March 2014. First Solar Sets Thin-Film Module Efficiency World Record Of 17.0 Percent (http://investor.firstsolar.com/releases. cfm?sect=all; accessed 24 April 2014). 43. http://www.miasole.com. 44. Zhao J, Wang A, Green MA, Ferrazza F. Novel 19.8% efficient “honeycomb” textured multicrystalline and 24.4% monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Applied Physics Letters 1998; 73: 1991–1993. 45. Cousins PJ, Smith DD, Luan HC, Manning J, Dennis TD, Waldhauer A, Wilson KE, Harley G, Mulligan WP. Gen III: Improved Performance at Lower Cost. 35th IEEE PVSC, Honolulu, HI, June 2010. 46. Engelhart P, Wendt J, Schulze A, Klenke C, Mohr A, Petter K, Stenzel F, Hörnlein S, Kauert M, Junghänel M, Barkenfelt B, Schmidt S, Rychtarik D, Fischer M, Müller JW, Wawer P. R&D pilot line production of multi-crystalline Si solar cells exceeding cell efficiencies of 18 %. Energy Procedia, 1st International Conference on Silicon Photovoltaics, Freiburg, 17–20 April, 2010 (www.Elsevier.com/locate/ procedia). 47. Geisz JF, Steiner MA, Garcia I, Kurtz SR, Friedman DJ. Enhanced external radiative efficiency for 20.8% efficient single-junction GaInP solar cells. Applied Physics Letters 2013; 103(4): 041118. 48. Nakamura M, Yamaguchi K, Chiba Y, Hakuma H, Kobayashi T, Nakada T. Achievement of 19.7% efficiency with a small-sized Cu(InGa)(SeS)2 solar cells prepared by sulfurization after selenizaion process with Zn-based buffer. 39th IEEE PVSC, Tampa, USA, June 18, 2013. 49. Wang W, Winkler MT, Gunawan O, Gokmen T, Todorov TK, Zhu Y, Mitzi DB. Device Characteristics of CZTSSe Thin-Film Solar Cells with 12.6% Efficiency. Advanced Energy Materials 2013, doi:10.1002/aenm.201301465. 50. Eguchi T, Maki T, Tajima S, Ito T, Fukano T. Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells with 7.6% efficiency. Technical Digest, 21st International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference, Fukuoka, November 2011: 4D-3P-24. 51. Noh JH, Im SH, Heo JH, Mandal TH, Seok SI. Chemical Management for Colorful, Efficient, and Stable Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Nanostructured Solar Cells. Nano Letters 2013: 13; 1764–1769. 52. Service, R. Outlook brightens for plastic solar cells. Science 2011; 332(6027): 293. 53. Slade A, Garboushian V. 27.6% efficient silicon concentrator cell for mass production. Technical Digest, 15th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference, Shanghai, October 2005; 701. 54. Ward JS, Ramanathan K, Hasoon FS, Coutts TJ, Keane J, Contreras MA, Moriarty T, Noufi R. A Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2015; 23:1–9 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/pip
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21.5% Efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Concentrator Solar Cell. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 2002; 10: 41–46. 55. Press Release, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, 1 December 2014 (accessed at http://www. ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-and-media/press-releases/pressreleases-2014/new-world-record-for-solar-cell-efficiencyat-46-percent on 7 December 2014). 56. Keevers MJ, Lau CFJ, Thomas I, Lasich JB, King RR, Green MA. High Efficiency Spectrum Splitting Prototype Submodule Using Commercial CPV Cells. Paper 5WeO.4.4, 6th World Conf. on PV Energy Conversion, Kyoto, November 2014. 57. Chiang CJ, Richards EH. A 20% efficient photovoltaic concentrator module. Conf. Record, 21st IEEE
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