Consolidated tables showing an extensive listing of the highest independently conﬁrmed efﬁciencies for solar cells andmodulesarepresented.GuidelinesforinclusionofresultsintothesetablesareoutlinedandnewentriessinceJune2010arereviewed. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEYWORDSsolar cell efficiency; photovoltaic efficiency; energy conversion efficiency*CorrespondenceMartin A. Green, ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.E-mail: m.green@unsw.edu.auReceived 12 October 2010 1. INTRODUCTION Since January 1993, ‘Progress in Photovoltaics’ haspublished six monthly listings of the highest conﬁrmedefﬁciencies for a range of photovoltaic cell and moduletechnologies [1–3]. By providing guidelines for theinclusion of results into these tables, this not only providesan authoritative summary of the current state of the art butalso encourages researchers to seek independent conﬁr-mation of results and to report results on a standardisedbasis. In a recent version of these tables (Version 33) [2],results were updated to the new internationally acceptedreferencespectrum(IEC60904–3,Ed.2,2008),wherethiswas possible.Themostimportantcriterionforinclusionofresultsintothe tables is that they must have been measured by arecognised test centre listed elsewhere [1]. A distinction ismade between three different eligible areas: total area;aperture area and designated illumination area [1]. ‘Activearea’ efﬁciencies are not included. There are also certainminimum values of the area sought for the different devicetypes (above 0.05cm

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pip.1088

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 37)

The high natural abundance of silicon, together with its excellent reliability and good efficiency in solar cells, suggest its continued use in production of solar energy, on massive scales, for the foreseeable future. Although organics, nanocrystals, nanowires and other new materials hold significant promise, many opportunities continue to exist for research into unconventional means of exploiting silicon in advanced photovoltaic systems. Here, we describe modules that use large-scale arrays of silicon solar microcells created from bulk wafers and integrated in diverse spatial layouts on foreign substrates by transfer printing. The resulting devices can offer useful features, including high degrees of mechanical flexibility, user-definable transparency and ultrathin-form-factor microconcentrator designs. Detailed studies of the processes for creating and manipulating such microcells, together with theoretical and experimental investigations of the electrical, mechanical and optical characteristics of several types of module that incorporate them, illuminate the key aspects.

Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pip.1021

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 36)

In this paper, we use the transfer matrix method to calculate the optical absorptance of vertically-aligned silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays. For fixed filling ratio, significant optical absorption enhancement occurs when the lattice constant is increased from 100 nm to 600 nm. The enhancement arises from an increase in field concentration within the nanowire as well as excitation of guided resonance modes. We quantify the absorption enhancement in terms of ultimate efficiency. Results show that an optimized SiNW array with lattice constant of 600 nm and wire diameter of 540 nm has a 72.4% higher ultimate efficiency than a Si thin film of equal thickness. The enhancement effect can be maintained over a large range of incidence angles.

Optical absorption enhancement in silicon nanowire arrays with a large lattice constant for photovoltaic applications.

System, devices and methods are presented that integrate stretchable or flexible circuitry, including arrays of active devices for enhanced sensing, diagnostic, and therapeutic capabilities. The invention enables conformal sensing contact with tissues of interest, such as the inner wall of a lumen, a the brain, or the surface of the heart. Such direct, conformal contact increases accuracy of measurement and delivery of therapy. Further, the invention enables the incorporation of both sensing and therapeutic devices on the same substrate allowing for faster treatment of diseased tissue and fewer devices to perform the same procedure.

Systems,methods, and devices having stretchable integrated circuitry for sensing and delivering therapy

The performances of thin-film poly-Si solar cells with a thickness of less than 5 μm on a glass substrate have been investigated. The cell of glass/back reflector/n-i-p type Si/ITO is well characterized by the structure of naturally surface texture and enhanced absorption with a back reflector (STAR), where the active i-type poly-Si layer was fabricated by plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at low temperature. The cell with a thickness of 2.0 μm demonstrated an intrinsic efficiency of 10.7% (aperture 10.1%), an open-circuit voltage of 0.539 V and a short-current density of 25.8 mA/cm2 as independently confirmed by Japan Quality Assurance. No light-induced degradation is observed. The optical and transport properties of poly-Si cells are summarized.

M. Yoshimi

Papers

Thin-film poly-Si solar cells on glass substrate fabricated at low temperature