星期日, 6 4 月, 2025
Home PV News New PV cell architecture creates resistively bounded subcells

New PV cell architecture creates resistively bounded subcells

Solar Inventions, the winners of the first American-Made Solar Prize, plan to commercialize their newest product, which is claimed to reduce silver content and increase module power, while potentially saving manufacturers up to $1 million per year.

While PV system costs are falling faster than anticipated, there is one module component that isn’t following this trend, and is actually rising in cost significantly: silver. The price of the material has risen by nearly 40% from a year ago, but one company claims it has created a solution that could reduce silver costs by 3%, while also increasing PV module output.
Solar Inventions, the winners of the first American-Made Solar Prize and the creators of Configurable Current Cell (C3) subcell technology – a new PV cell architecture that creates resistively bounded subcells. The idea of creating subcells is nothing new, but Solar Inventions and its chief scientist, Dr. Benjamin Damiani, have been able to develop a way to create these subcells more efficiently, without specialized processing. According to the company’s first white paper, manufacturers are able to utilize C3 with just small changes in metallization print patterns and selective doping. This is achievable via minor print screen modifications and marginal changes to production lines, as C3 configures the subcells in parallel to a cell’s traditional busbars.
The technology works with 95% of all silicon cell architectures, including monocrystalline, polycrystalline, PERC, HJT, and bifacial tech.

Damiani said the reduction of silver costs and higher module power output could bring down module prices by up to $0.01/kWh, which is no small feat. For a 300 MW PERC cell and module manufacturer, according to the white paper, C3 creates nearly $1 million in value through a 3% reduction in silver and an additional 2 watts to 3 watts per 60-cell panel.
“This is an interesting thing,” Damiani told pv magazine. “I have a tendency to want to talk about the cool science and changing the solar cell … but I think what really gets people’s attention is the silver savings.”
These breakthroughs are just the first steps for Solar Inventions. The company plans to release a second-generation technology in the near future, in order to provide greater resistance to microcracks and thermal events, while also reducing the effects of module shading.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Ningbo Deye Will Invests 16GWh Energy Storage

Ningbo Deye Technology Group’s subsidiary locked in a pact to build a colossal energy storage facility, not only boosting its stock value but also...

Trump tariffs on solar panels to spur Chinese investment in the US

Chinese companies are likely to increase their production of solar panels in the US to mitigate any fallout from possible higher tariffs on their...

How U.S. tariffs could affect solar imports

On Feb. 1, the United States announced a 25% tariff on Mexican goods and non-oil and gas imports from Canada. Canadian oil and gas...

Solar power to energize European football, UEFA teaming up with SolarPower Europe

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and SolarPower Europe have partnered to advance sustainability in European football through solar energy. The collaboration focuses on...