GP Solar and ISC Konstanz receive BMU metal pastes funding
GP Solar, Germany, together with the International Solar Energy Research Center Constance (ISC Konstanz e.V.) have received funding from the German environment ministry (BMU) to support research into metal pastes for electrical contacts on the p-doped surfaces of solar cells. The German federal government is taking advantage of its 6th energy research programme to continue its support for the development and expansion of renewable energy.
Improving the electrical contacts on p-doped surfaces forms a key component of the new n-type solar cell concept - of which back-contact and bifacial cells are examples - and is an important step in the further development of Si solar cells. In these technologies, which will be critical in the next generation of PV devices, creating electrical contacts on p-layers is a tremendous challenge.
The so-called MetalTopp project aims to develop and evaluate metal pastes capable forming a strong metal-semiconductor bond with low output impedance on boron-doped p-type layers. The development aims to achieve laboratory efficiencies of more than 21 per cent for crystalline Si solar cells which can be transferred to industrial production.
"The development of p+ contacting pastes is in its infancy, however we expect that it will become an essential component of many new solar cell concepts in the very near future. We are pleased that the funding for this project has made it possible for us to conduct research on this interface which is so critical to the solar cells of the future," says Dr. Eric Rueland, managing director of GP Solar.
GP Solar's years of experience in the development of screen printing pastes and metallisation processes combined with the comprehensive knowledge of n-type solar cells at ISC makes this cooperation an ideal research partnership.
The project will span a two-year period and receive 832 thousand euros of funding volume.
