Start-up, Solar3D has claimed the use of an unspecified “thinner” silicon wafer substrate in prototyping its technology has achieved improved cell efficiency of 10% above its 25% cell efficiency claimed in 2012. The results have not been verified by a third party.
The start-up also claimed that its 3D cell had a wider angle of light capture than previous designs, boosting low-light operation beyond existing cell designs.
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“This new prototype is a leap forward for us,” said Changwan Son, director of technology for Solar3D. “By using thinner silicon, we have less waste and yield more efficiency – producing almost 10% more power than our original prototype. And by fine-tuning the three-dimensional light collecting structures in our solar cell, we are able to collect even more light at wider angles than the original version.”