Pero-Si-SCALE – Technology Platform for Scaling Up Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells and Modules

Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells have the potential to become the successor to the previously dominant silicon solar cell technology. To be able to transfer the developments at the lower technology maturity level (TRL 1-4) more rapidly into industrial production and thus accelerate the development of the next-generation cell technology together with the German and European photovoltaic industry, an independent technology platform for perovskite-silicon tandem technology is to be established in the Pero-Si SCALE project. This platform shall not only provide successful production technologies for cells and modules of the next generation but also an extensive characterization and analysis environment from the solar cell up to the PV power plant. 

In the current laboratory research on perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, many processes and materials are used which are not scalable (e.g., spin coating) or whose long-term stability has not yet been demonstrated (e.g., interlayers of LiF, SAM). In addition to the efficiency-optimized laboratory developments, it is now necessary to develop the scaling up to large-areas, the stability and high-throughput and reproducible processes from the cell to the module. These developments shall be accompanied with the appropriate characterization and simulation tools along the way. In the current laboratory environment, basic material and process evaluations can be performed on small areas up to about 100 cm². To make the transition from this low technology maturity level, which is also being pursued at other research institutions and universities, to higher technology maturity levels, extensive development steps and investments must be made.

In the »Pero-Si-SCALE« project, the necessary processes, technologies and competence are to be established and developed in order to manufacture, characterize and test cells and modules on the industrial wafer format M12. The focus is on the development of area-scalable and  throughput-capable reproducible processes as well as on the detailed characterization of individual layers, cells and modules. 

To ensure connectivity, only equipment and processes for which are suitable for cost-effective mass production should be considered. Likewise, only materials that allow long-term stable cells and modules should be used. To analyze these cells and modules, new measuring equipment is required for the daily quality assurance and calibration during the developments for both cells and modules. The project aim is to build up the necessary technologies and realize the first cells and modules by the end of 2024. 

This project will create an independent technology platform for the development and analysis of perovskite-silicon tandem technology, which does not yet exist internationally at this level of maturity. With this platform, the German and European photovoltaic industry can be optimally supported in the development and implementation of the next generation of solar cells. Fraunhofer ISE also intends to collaborate with other German research institutes in this platform in order to be able to investigate promising laboratory-scale results together more quickly at a higher TRL.