Design and Demonstration of Technology for Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells with 14% Cell and 13% Module Efficiency

The intent of project Demo 14 was the development of groundbreaking concepts including new and innovative materials as well as device concepts in order to increase efficiencies of silicon thin-film solar cells. The project's objective was the production of solar cells with stable efficiencies over 14% as a basis for the development of cost efficient solar modules with stable cell efficiencies of more then 13% ready for production in industrial scales. The project has been headed by Masdar PV, a manufacturer of solar cells, and performed together with Forschungszentrum Jülich, PVcomB and ZIB. The demonstration of the process on 30 x 30 cm^2 solar modules with efficiencies greater than 13% was a milestone of the project. In addition, a specialized computer program was developed tailored to optimize the optical properties of thin-film solar cells based on the actual three dimensional geometric properties of the solar cell including all the randomly textured layers.