Heavenly

High efficiency PERT and IBC cells development focusing on paste and CVD optimisation for long term stability.

Heavenly is co funded by InnovateUK and the German government as part of the Solar-ERAnet scheme, to develop the next generation of Passivated Emitter Rear Totally diffused (PERT) solar cells. Solar PV has grown rapidly over recent years from a niche market to a leading renewable energy supply. By combining our expertise in glass chemistry, conductive ink processing, silicon wafer manufacturing and solar cell characterisation, in collaboration with wafer fabrication expertise from the University of Konstanz, silver contacts with higher conductivities are being developed - increasing the performance of solar cells, and reducing the cost per Watt.

Inspiring science in action

JM is project coordinator, and also responsible for developing new silver pastes to form the screen printed electrodes that connect each of the n and p doped areas of the silicon solar cell. The pastes will be optimised for new architectures developed by the German partners who will be producing doped chemical vapor deposition (CVD) layers on wafer surfaces. Increasing our understanding of contact formation for these new cell architectures will mean we can develop pastes with lower contact resistances and increase solar cell performance. Silver pastes are an essential component in the manufacture of silicon solar cells, being screen printed onto both the front and back sides of the silicon wafers to form the electrical contacts.

The collaboration

Our partners, The University of Konstanz, and SCHMID will develop the architecture of the Passivated Emitter Rear Totally diffused (PERT) and Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) cells by optimising the CVD layers and developing an understanding of issues regarding solar cell stability which can then be addressed.

Enhancing life

Cost effective and reliable materials for solar cells make solar power and clean energy more accessible for all.