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IMEC
[VIPERLAB Consortium]
IMEC at a glance
IMEC is active in world class research on nano-electronics and nanotechnology. Imec’s research is focusing on renewable energy, improved health care, smart electronics, and safer transport. The PV activity is developing low cost, scalable and high efficiency solar cell technologies, and the key areas of attention are silicon-based and thin-film solar cells and modules. This research is using the vast know-how of IMEC on semiconductor physics, processing and analysis. The Thin-Film PV group has a track record of about 20 years. It started in the field of organic solar cells but has now its main activities based on chalcogenide and perovskite thin film solar cells.
In the case of perovskite thin film solar cells, this group has attracted a lot of attention with its fast progress in this field with single cell efficiencies of 22.3% for inverted p-i-n cells using a stable and scalable layer stack. In 2017, we obtained the world-record certified module efficiency of 12.5%, as well as in 2018, we reported world’s first 4 cm² module-on-cell perovskite/silicon stack with a power conversion efficiency of 25.3% (27.1% at cell-on-cell level), outperforming the standalone silicon solar cell. In 2020, we expanded this with 2-terminal perovskite/Si tandem results with efficiency >25%, using scalable stacks. Similarly, a perovskite/CIGS mechanically stacked tandem solar cell has been demonstrated whereby the single junction CIGS efficiency was boosted from 16.7% to a record high 24.6% tandem cell efficiency
Main Role and tasks in the project
First of all, IMEC will act as work package leader of WP6-NA3 and will also contribute to the WP4-NA1 and WP5-NA2. Furthermore, IMEC will open up its world-class large-area perovskite research infrastructure (see description below) for transnational access in WP2-TA1 and will contribute to the establishment of a perovskite database infrastructure in WP3-VA1. Finally, IMEC will also be active in the WP8-JRA2 and WP9-JRA3 activities on the improvement of the processing and characterization infrastructures
Infrastructures
- Processing line for perovskite modules up to 35x35 cm2
- Psk/Si tandem processing tools
- Characterization and stability testing equipment
Expertise
Webinars
[1] - Took place on Jun, 28th 2023
Perovskite SJ and Pero/Si Tandem technologies are attracting significant attention from both scientific and industrial societies due to rapid increases in efficiency, from approximately 3% in 2009 to over 33% today. Several efforts are made to characterize the technological bottlenecks, overcome them and push the technology to the commercial world through the PV module upscaling. This imposes a pre-industrial stage, where different equipment from coating systems such as blade coating, slot-die coating and spray coating to printing paths such as screen, inkjet and gravure printing as well as methods of vacuum deposition and laser processing are currently used to support the potential of PSCs to move towards their industrialization. VIPERLAB today introduces CEA and IMEC VIPERLAB Research Infrastructures offering State-of-the-art equipment for Fabrication, Characterization, Encapsulation, Upscaling and Testing of Perovskite SJ and Pero/Si Tandem Solar Cells
