The Institute for Solar Energy Systems calibration laboratory has confirmed 152 world efficiency records since 1986, from a then-impressive 16.4 percent silicon module in 1992 to today's world-leading 34.4 percent record.
The renowned institute has applied a new electrode architecture to lithium-ion, sodium-ion and zinc-ion battery cells, reporting energy density gains of 10 to 15 percent in each case.
Germany's Fraunhofer ISE and the University of Freiburg have combined sputtering and slot-die coating to produce organic PV modules with 43.2 percent average transparency, addressing one of the field's longest-standing scale-up problems.
The Fraunhofer ISE team in Freiburg has developed a technique using structured coatings and cutouts to create detailed, durable patterns on modules, opening new scope for architecture and design in PV.
Built around a hybrid vacuum and wet-chemical process, the Pero-Si-SCALE laboratory of the Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg gives industry partners a shared platform to test perovskite-silicon designs at full wafer size.
A new metallisation approach reduces silver demand in TOPCon cells by a factor of ten, with implications for manufacturing costs and material sourcing.
New III–V modules from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems push efficiencies well beyond conventional silicon, highlighting potential routes for high-performance applications where space is limited.
Researchers have found that the performance loss of TOPCon modules due to UV radiation is less severe than initially feared. Moreover, the defect is potentially reversible.
