CPV-15, held this year at Université Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah in Fes, couldn’t have a better start, when Dr. John Geisz, opened the first day plenary session announcing a new world efficiency record in photovoltaic solar energy conversion, achieved by his team at NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO). The NREL team has produced a multijunction solar cell that reached the following efficiency values
– 39,2% @ 1 sun (AM1.5G)
– 45,3% @ 1115X
– 47,3% @ 144X
Thus, 47,3% becomes so far the highest conversion efficiency ever demonstrated by a photovoltaic solar cell. The device is 6 junction (6J) inverted metamorphic (IMM) stack consisting of 2.1eV AlGaInP, 1.7eV AlGaAs, 1.4 eV GaAs lattice-matched junctions combined with 1.1eV, 0.9eV, and 0.7eV metamorphic InGaAs junctions. Previous world record of 46% @ 50xX was held by a German-French consortium consisting of Fraunhofer ISE, Soitec, and CEA-LETI with a 4J cell that resorted to a wafer bonding technique.
The 15th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV-15) successfully took place from March 25-27 and focused on high- and low-concentration PV components, modules, and tracker-based PV systems. It has hosted academics, technologists, students, and financiers from 19 countries around the world and was sponsored by BSQ Solar that took this excellent opportunity to present its HCPV products to conference delegates and local students.
