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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Light-trapped, interconnected, Silicon-Film{trademark} modules. Final technical status report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/653971· OSTI ID:653971
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  1. AstroPower, Inc., Newark, DE (United States)

AstroPower has continued its development of an advanced thin-silicon-based photovoltaic module product. This module combines the performance advantages of thin light-trapped silicon layers with the capability of integration into a low-cost, monolithically interconnected module. This report summarized work carried out over a 3-year, cost-shared contract. Key results accomplished during this phase include an NREL-verified conversion efficiency of 12.5% on a 0.47-cm{sup 2} device. The device structure used an insulating substrate and an active layer less than 100 {micro}m thick. A new metalization scheme was designed using insulating crossovers. This technology was demonstrated on a 36-segment, 321-cm{sup 2}, interconnected module. That module was tested at NREL with an efficiency of 9.79%. Further advances in metalization have led to an advanced single back-contact design that will offer low cost through ease of processing and higher performance through reduced shading.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States); AstroPower, Inc., Newark, DE (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-83CH10093
OSTI ID:
653971
Report Number(s):
NREL/SR--520-24641; ON: DE98004786
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English