I-Corps: Effectively transparent contacts for solar applications

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛影响是将太阳能组件的效率提高高达6%，这是光伏(PV)领域的重大改进。该项目用有效透明的触点(ETC)取代了标准的丝网印刷金属触点，从而将阴影损失降低到0%。光伏生态系统的很大一部分将从这项技术中受益。ETCS可以使太阳能组件制造商能够制造出相对效率高6%的太阳能组件。这种更高的效率可以降低土地使用、运输、安装和清洁的总体成本。这个i-Corps项目进一步开发了有效的透明触点(ETC)，减少了丝网印刷金属触点在整个太阳光谱和所有入射角下固有的阴影损失。ETC是一种三角形横截面微型金属触点，可以有效地将入射光重新定向到太阳能电池的有源区。在不降低栅极导电率的情况下，克服正面接触遮挡损耗，可使硅太阳能电池的功率输出增加高达6%。用ETC代替标准的丝网印刷金属触头时，银的使用量也可以减少。ETC是通过无残留物的三维微压印工艺制造的，该工艺使太阳能组件制造商能够大规模打印ETC。到目前为止，ETCS与最先进的硅异质结太阳能电池的集成已经在实验室规模上成功地展示了出来。

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is to increase the efficiency of solar modules by up to 6%, a significant improvement in the photovoltaics (PV) space. This project replacies standard screen-printed metal contacts with an effectively transparent contacts (ETC) where the shading loss is brought down to 0%. A significant fraction of the PV ecosystem will benefit from this technology. ETCs can enable solar module manufacturers to fabricate up to 6% higher relative efficiency solar modules. This higher efficiency can lead to reduced cost overall for land use, transportation, installation and cleaning. Therefore, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) can potentially be reduced and photovoltaic electricity can become more affordable.This I-Corps project further develops effectively transparent contacts (ETC) that mitigate shading losses inherent to screen-printed metal contacts over the entire solar spectrum and for all angles of incidence. ETCs are triangular cross-section micro-scale metal contacts that redirect the incoming light efficiently to the active area of the solar cell. Overcoming front contact shading loss without reducing the grid conductivity increases the silicon solar cell power output by up to 6%. When replacing standard screen-printed metal contacts with ETCs the amount of used silver can also be reduced. The ETC's are made via a residue-free three-dimensional micro-imprint process that enables large scale printing of ETCs by solar module manufactures. To date, the integration of ETCs with state-of-the-art silicon heterojunction solar cells has been successfully demonstrated on a laboratory scale.