L R AS Published on Saturday 7 September 2019 - n° 288 - Categories:R&D
Insolight panel (29% efficiency) will move to pre-industrialisation
Several European research institutes (Hiperion project) have received funding of 10.6 million euros from the European Union to set up a pilot production line for a high-efficiency panel developed by the Swiss company Insolight. The panel combines high-efficiency multi-junction cells and a solar concentrator lens. It has already demonstrated an efficiency of 29%.
This project aims to show that this technology can be cost-effective and integrated into crystalline silicon manufacturing operations.
As reported here in September 2016 (A fixed panel that achieves a 36.4% conversion rate.), the panel consists of optical lenses that concentrate the light on a 1 mm² cell. A device moves the lenses a few millimetres horizontally to keep the rays concentrated and aligned on the cell. The result is a panel with an efficiency of 29% and a cell efficiency of 36%.
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/des-panneaux-solaires-residentiels-deux-fois-plus-/
PV Magazine of 5 September
Editor's note In 2016, and with confirmation from Fraunhofer, a conversion rate of 42% for the cell and 36.4% for the panel was announced. The cells are made up of a number of layers that capture different wavelengths. The important feature of the system is the micro-tracking device that captures 100% of the sun's rays at any angle of incidence.
Three years after the announcement of this process, a pilot line will be developed over the next four years to show that the technology can be cost-effective by testing mass production and the assembly process. It is encouraging to see that a product from researchers will move towards production.
