EU PVSEC 2015: Fraunhofer ISE spin-off NexWafe reports 20% EpiWafer yields

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Fraunhofer ISE spin-off, NexWafe will showcase new n-doped EpiWafers that have been processed into cells that achieve 20% conversion efficiencies at the European PV Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) in Hamburg this week. 

According to Fraunhofer ISE, the results which include mean minority carrier lifetimes have been demonstrated above 1000µs, indicating the same quality as n-type Cz wafers and achieve a short-circuit current of 39.6 mA/cm2, a world-record value for epitaxially grown silicon solar cells that were verified at the Fraunhofer ISE CalLab.

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“This success attests to our fast progress made in only a few months since focusing on EpiWafers,” Dr. Stefan Janz, Head of the Department of Silicon Materials, said.

Dr. Stefan Reber, CEO of NexWafe added, “These values demonstrate that our EpiWafer technology is a game-changing technology. It accelerates the shift of the market towards high efficiency modules by providing high quality drop-in mono-crystalline EpiWafers at a very competitive price.”

NexWafe forms an EpiWafer via a thick crystalline silicon layer being epitaxially deposited and subsequently detached after growth to produce a freestanding EpiWafer of standard wafer thickness, while displacing conventional and costly process steps for standard mono and multicrystalline wafers. 

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