Peter Clarke

EE Times Europe
(03/19/2008 6:47 AM EDT)

LONDON — Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) has claimed to have achieved a world record in photoelectric conversion efficiency in a 150-millimeter square practical-use polycrystalline silicon solar cell, with a rate of 18.6 percent. This represents an improvement of 0.6 percent over the company's previous record.

Mitsubishi added a low reflectivity surface texture to the polycrystalline silicon wafer, optimized the p-n junction to increase electric current generation and used a process to print electrodes on the surface of the silicon to reduce shade loss from front grid electrodes.

The cell has a low-reflectivity honeycomb textured structure, with a view to using the technology in next-generation photovoltaic cells. Mitsubishi claimed to have developed a method for fabricating a honeycomb structure on the surface of a 150-millimeter square multi-crystalline silicon by combining laser patterning and wet etching.

Mitsubishi Electric said it would begin introducing this polycrystalline silicon cell technology into its mass-produced photovoltaic modules by fiscal 2011, which ends March 31, 2011. The company plans to make a presentation of this achievement at "The 23rd European Photovoltaic Conference" in September 2008 in Spain.

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