Generation III high efficiency lower cost technology: Transition to full scale manufacturing

Abstract

This paper reports on the first large scale manufacturing of Gen III solar cells. The Gen III product has been designed to deliver increased performance and lower cost throughout the value chain. Reduced emitter recombination is the key feature to deliver the efficiency improvement. Gen III is now ramping on a production line in SunPower's Philippines manufacturing plant. Production run median efficiency is 23.6%. Total area module efficiency is 21.2 %. The Gen III solar cell architecture has a low breakdown voltage in reverse, which minimizes power loss and wear on module materials under shaded conditions.