Companies agree to collaborate to create higher efficiency PERC cells
Heraeus Photovoltaics, the worldwide leading supplier of metallization solutions to the PV industry, today announced a joint development agreement with Sunrise Global Solar Energy (part of Sino-American Silicon Products Inc./SAS), a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced photovoltaic solar energy products. Under the terms of the joint development agreement, the two companies will collaborate on research efforts for the design and formulation of front-side metallization pastes for high efficiency passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells.
With this partnership, the two companies plan to work in close collaboration to customize Heraeus' paste formulation to Sunrise's CELCO solar cell and optimize the metallization process to maximize their cell's output. Sunrise CELCO technology, a combination of PERC method and proprietary know-how developed by Sunrise, has already achieved peak cell efficiency of 21.5% in mass production of p-type monocrystalline cells, and its next milestone is to push average cell efficiency to 21.0%.
One of the unique advantages of this partnership will be the ability to leverage Heraeus Photovoltaics' track record in accelerating development from the research lab to the real world. According to Dr. Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President Research and Development, Heraeus Photovoltaics, "Achieving maximum performance from cell designs cannot occur from innovation alone, which is why we relentlessly focus on a rapid R&D and commercialization strategy. We're very excited to partner with Sunrise to jointly develop front-side metallization pastes and to advance future performance of their PERC product line because they share that same fast-track mindset."
By leveraging Sunrise's being global leadership in the development solar cells and modules, Heraeus Photovoltaics will work to customize their highly successful SOL9621 Series for their PERC cell design. The goal will be to enable Sunrise to increase output and improve other performance parameters for their customers worldwide.
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