Collaboration For The Joint Development Of Novel Solar Cells And Modules

• Long-standing research partner supports Meyer Burger for another three years in Switzerland
• Current milestone: Record breaking crystalline silicon solar cell with 25.4 percent certified efficiency

Meyer Burger Tech­nol­ogy Ltd ex­tends the ex­ist­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Swiss re­search and de­vel­op­ment cen­ter CSEM. The sci­en­tists from CSEM and Meyer Burger Re­search, the sub­sidiary re­spon­si­ble for re­search and de­vel­op­ment, have been work­ing suc­cess­fully on new tech­nolo­gies for the pro­duc­tion of highly ef­fi­cient solar cells and mod­ules for more than seven years. The focus of this work is on the trans­fer of new pho­to­voltaic tech­nolo­gies to in­dus­trial mass pro­duc­tion to­wards av­er­age man­u­fac­tur­ing ef­fi­cien­cies at mod­ule level ex­ceed­ing 24% and the cor­re­spond­ing re­duc­tion of man­u­fac­tur­ing costs.

"We are very pleased to con­tinue our col­lab­o­ra­tion with CSEM. They have sup­ported us sig­nif­i­cantly in the de­vel­op­ment of our pro­pri­etary Het­ero­junc­tion/SmartWire tech­nol­ogy and made an im­por­tant con­tri­bu­tion to the fur­ther com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion of our tech­nol­ogy", says Gunter Er­furt, CEO of Meyer Burger Tech­nol­ogy Ltd. The mile­stone cur­rently achieved is the de­vel­op­ment of a cell process that achieves re­mark­able ef­fi­cien­cies. Fraun­hofer ISE cer­ti­fied an ef­fi­ciency of 25.4 per­cent for solar cells on stan­dard in­dus­trial wafers man­u­fac­tured at the Meyer Burger Re­search Cen­ter in Neuchâtel, in close col­lab­o­ra­tion with CSEM. This is one of the high­est ef­fi­cien­cies re­ported on in­dus­trial wafer so far. The process uses con­tacts on the back to con­vert ad­di­tional sun­light into elec­tric­ity and of­fers per­spec­tive for the sim­pli­fied, com­pet­i­tive cost man­u­fac­tur­ing, ultra-high ef­fi­ciency crys­talline sil­i­con mod­ules.

"Meyer Burger has been a trust­ful part­ner for many years now, and we could help them in build­ing up an amaz­ing tech­nol­ogy port­fo­lio. It will allow them to play an im­por­tant role in PV man­u­fac­tur­ing over the com­ing years,” says Christophe Bal­lif, Vice Pres­i­dent of the CSEM and Di­rec­tor of the CSEM PV Cen­ter.

Matthieu De­speisse, re­spon­si­ble for mod­ule and het­ero­junc­tion ac­tiv­i­ties at the CSEM, adds: "It is a great plea­sure for the many sci­en­tists, en­gi­neers and tech­ni­cians at CSEM to see their pro­jects and con­cepts being im­ple­mented in the in­dus­try. Our team is highly mo­ti­vated to ac­com­pany and sup­port Meyer Burger on its new path".

The col­lab­o­ra­tion be­tween Meyer Burger and CSEM orig­i­nated in 2008 through a co­op­er­a­tion with the EPFL (École poly­tech­nique fédérale de Lau­sanne). In 2013, the co­op­er­a­tion with the CSEM Pho­to­voltaic Cen­ter was ex­panded. Part of the re­search and in­dus­tri­al­i­sa­tion ef­fort was sup­ported by funds from the Eu­ro­pean Union, In­no­su­isse, Swiss Fed­eral Of­fice of En­ergy, the Fed­eral Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion and Re­search, and the Fed­eral Min­istry for Eco­nomic Af­fairs and En­ergy in Ger­many.

About Meyer Burger Technology Ltd
Meyer Burger is a leading and globally active technology company, specialising in innovative systems and production facilities for the solar industry. The company has shaped the development of photovoltaics along the entire value chain and has set key industry standards, such as diamond wire saw technology, the industrial PERC solution and precision measurement technology for solar modules. A large proportion of the solar modules produced worldwide today are based on technologies developed by Meyer Burger.

In line with its new business model and strategy, Meyer Burger is transforming itself into a manufacturer of high-performance photovoltaic cells and modules based on its proprietary heterojunction/SmartWire technology. With heterojunction/SmartWire, the company has developed next generation photovoltaic technology that is more efficient and higher yield than the current standard mono-PERC and other heterojunction technologies currently available. Meyer Burger operates research and development centers in Thun and Hauterive, Switzerland, and production facilities in Germany for the construction of machinery and equipment (Hohenstein-Ernstthal) and from 2021 for the production of solar cells (Bitterfeld-Wolfen) and solar modules (Freiberg). For more information, visit www.meyerburger.com.

About CSEM
Founded in 1984, the CSEM is a Swiss research and development center (public-private partnership) specializing in photovoltaics, energy management, microtechnology, nanotechnology, microelectronics, systems engineering and communication technologies. Around 500 highly qualified specialists from various scientific and technical disciplines work for the CSEM in Neuchâtel, Zurich, Muttenz, Alpnach and Landquart. The Photovoltaic Center focuses on novel photovoltaic technologies and energy systems and has full R&D pilot lines for photovoltaics, cells and materials, including encapsulation manufacturing and reliability testing. CSEM has also introduced multiple innovations for architecture and colored photovoltaics, for lightweight modules for space and mobility applications, as well as for high performance energy scavengers used, e.g., in watches. It also develops news solutions in the field of digital grids, electrochemical storage, and energy management. For more information, visit https://www.csem.ch.