Fraunhofer ISE CalLab has certified a 9.8% cell efficiency for Heliatek’s 1.1cm² tandem organic solar cell, which was created with a low temperature deposition process. The company’s in-house measurements have demonstrated that scaling up its record-breaking cells to a panel with a size factor >120 produces efficiency over 9% for the active module area. Heliatek notes that its new record is the third in a row that it has set for efficiency in OPV.
Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, co-founder and CTO of Heliatek, commented, “Heliatek is the only solar company in the world focused on the deposition of small molecules with low temperature processes, a method that has already been widely adopted by the market for use with organic LEDs (OLEDs). Heliatek develops and synthesizes in-house the molecules responsible for capturing light in solar cells and converting this light into electricity. Organic solar cells from Heliatek have now reached the level of efficiency of conventional solar cells made from amorphous silicon.”
Heliatek intends to gradually begin integrating its manufacturing process after its schedule start of production during the second part of 2012. The company advised that its record efficiency result was supported through funds for its R&D projects provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Freistaat Sachsen under project number 71070.
