The project “DISC” (Double-side contacted solar cells with Innovative carrier-Selective Contacts) funded by the European commission has now finished its first of in total three years of project duration. On this occasion, a meeting of all project partners from the beneficiaries Meyer-Burger, Meco, von Ardenne, Total, EcoSolifer, Ayming, ERM, ISFH, Fraunhofer ISE, CEA-INES, CSEM, EPFL and the University of Ljubljana from 7 different countries (France, Hungary, Netherlands, England, Slovenia, Swiss, Germany) was held on Aug. 30th and Aug. 31st 2017 at the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH). Many of the national and international guests also attended ISFH’s 30th anniversary celebrations in the evening of Aug. 31st 2017.
DISC is coordinated by ISFH with support from Ayming. The project aims to develop key technologies for the next generation of high-performance photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and modules, allowing ultra-low solar electricity costs with minimum environmental impact. Technologically, the approach of the DISC project combines today’s simple, non-patterned device architecture for double-side contacted Si solar cells with innovative carrier selective contacts. DISC targets efficiencies >25.5% on large cell area and >22% at module level while demonstrating pilot manufacturing readiness at competitive costs.
The meeting at ISFH revealed good progress in the development of the single building blocks for cell and module fabrication, as well as in the improvement of the understanding of the working principle of carrier-selective junctions and their interplay with transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) and metallization. For a brief summary of highlights, the reader might refer to the project website http://www.disc-project-h2020.eu/. DISC will now enter into the integration phase, in which the best components of each partner will be combined on device level.
The meeting was fruitful, and the atmosphere was very constructive. During a dragon boat tour in the evening of Aug. 30th, the partners proved their team spirit also in disciplines beyond photovoltaic research.
Contact for further information: Prof. Robby Peibst, head of group “emerging solar cell technologies” at ISFH, r.peibst@isfh.de, Tel.: +49 5151 999 313