[16p-304-1~13] Photovoltaic 4.0 - Next-generation renewable energy systems powered by high-efficiency, low-cost photovoltaics -

▲ [16p-304-6] Progress of Smart Stack Technology towards Practical Applications

〇Hidenori Mizuno¹, Kikuo Makita¹, Takeshi Tayagaki¹, Takeyoshi Sugaya¹, Hidetaka Takato¹ (1.AIST)

Keywords:solar cell, multi junction, tandem

“Smart stack” is a powerful technique to form two-terminal multi-junction (tandem) solar cells. Using a metal (Pd, in particular) nanoparticle (NP) array as a bonding mediator, electrical and optical series connections among dissimilar cells are readily achievable; so far, we have successfully demonstrated InGaP/GaAs//InGaAsP/InGaAs quadruple-junction, InGaP/GaAs//CuInGaSe triple-junction, and InGaP/GaAs//Si triple-junction cells (where // denotes the smart stack interface) with the efficiencies of 31.6, 24.2, and 25.1%, respectively. While the effort to achieve better efficiencies of these devices is actively ongoing, issues towards the practical (industrial) applications of the smart stack technology, such as faster and lower-cost process, mass production, and module fabrication, are also inevitable and needs to be tackled. The foci of this presentation is regarding these topics, and some of our recent attempts will be discussed here.