Roth & Rau's 156mm solar monocrystalline silicon wafer efficiency reaches 21%

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems has confirmed that Roth & Rau (ETR: R8R) has achieved 21% efficiency in its solar cells. The 156mm monocrystalline silicon wafer, based on heterojunction (HJT) technology, was first unveiled at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Hamburg in September this year, with an efficiency rating of 20%.

At an output efficiency of 20%, the module is already able to reduce the cost of solar power generation by about 15% compared to the latest technology of traditional crystalline solar cells. Roth&Rau will then continue development work with the EPFL/IMT Institute on its solar cell research production line in Neuchâtel to further increase it to 21%. The outstanding feature of HJT is its extremely high input efficiency. In addition, the lower temperature coefficient also means a high output of energy.

At the Hohenstein-Ernstthal Technology Center, Roth & Rau is working to transfer the cell technology developments achieved in Neuchâtel into large-scale production systems. HELiA's coating systems are core products in the production line for heterojunction technology solar modules. The company recently achieved a cell efficiency of 20%.

Dr. Egbert Vetter, Vice President of Research and Development at Roth & Rau, said: "With this success, we are one step closer to achieving grid parity. It is now clear that high cell efficiencies can be achieved using heterojunction technology. Now it is just a question of how to transfer this success into large-scale production systems."