Energy: ENEA develops super-efficient photovoltaic cells to regain competitiveness
1/10/2020
A team of Italian and European companies part of the project AMPERE
ENEA has developed an innovative technology to raise photovoltaic solar cells efficiency by 1 percentage point by replacing layers of conductive oxides with traditional amorphous silicon layers.
The technology was developed as part of the project AMPERE [1], funded with 14 million euro by Horizon 2020, which comprises Enel Green Power, as leader, CNR, Rise Technology and some of the major players in the European photovoltaic supply chain, like CEA, Fraunhofer-ISE, Meyer Burger, NorSun. The project aims at creating an Italian / European production line of high efficiency solar panels to regain competitiveness in the sector.
As part of the project, a cell with an efficiency of 23.5% was developed at the production-line level, which can be increased to 24.5% thanks to the technology developed in the ENEA laboratories. Considering that high efficiency photovoltaic cells currently on the market have a maximum efficiency of approximately 22%, the difference with the new cells is extremely significant, since each efficiency percentage point corresponds to a 6% production costs reduction.
At an operational level, the goal is to produce double-sided photovoltaic modules: in the first phase, a production line with a 200 MW / year production capacity will be built, to be expanded to a 1 GW / year by 2022.
“The primary challenge the photovoltaic sector faces is to increase energy efficiency, making the structures capable of making the most of the sun's energy and reduce dispersion as much as possible; in fact at ENEA we are working on increasingly reliable and sustainable materials and solutions - Massimo Izzi at the ENEA Photovoltaic Technologies and Renewable Sources Laboratory said. The strength of conductive oxides - he continued - is their greater transparency, which allows to 'capture' more light and maximize the photovoltaic conversion parameters of the heterojunction cell ".
"The project aims to recreate a competitive industrial supply chain, ranging from raw materials to the final device, in the European and particularly the Italian photovoltaic sectors, leveraging the strong capacity for technological innovation Italy has - Giorgio Graditi, Head of the ENEA Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources Department, said-. It’s a unique opportunity to regain competitiveness in a field with a strong presence of non-European countries and, at the same time, implement the Green Deal and the energy transition ".
ENEA, with its Portici (Naples) and Casaccia (Rome) Research Centers, long-standing experience, infrastructures and professionalism has been active for years in the photovoltaic sector, notably in the study and development of advanced devices and on various lines of research derived from microelectronics, ranging from crystalline silicon to thin amorphous silicon films. In addition to technical-scientific support, the Agency is also the leader of the Work Package "Communication and dissemination of results", thanks to the great knowledge acquired through years of laboratory research and its proven experience in the sector.
According to recent studies, solar energy production as a primary source of electricity is on the rise: European market are estimated to produce 15% of electricity from photovoltaics by 2030 and the same trend is expected for the world market. Positive signs come also from Italy both for number of plants and annual electricity production: with + 750 solar MW in 2019 (a value almost double that of 2018), the Italian photovoltaic capacity has reached 20,865 MW, a total number of plants exceeding 880 thousands and approximately 23,689 GWh of power produced in one year, + 4.6% compared to 2018.
For more information please contact
Massimo Izzi, ENEA - Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources , massimo.izzi@enea.it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGmmscW7VQY&ab_channel=AMPEREH2020
https://www.enelgreenpower.com/content/dam/enel-egp/hubgroup/3sun/3SUN-EN.mp4