Tracks: 2018FLEX Full Conference, Materials, Our Funded R&D Projects, Products
Photovoltaics provides many advantages for supplying durable power needed for devices that demand low mass, flexibility and re-chargeability. Among the few PV technologies that have potential for these applications, thin-film CdTe is unusual in that it performs best in a superstrate geometry and thus may not require a separate encapsulation layer for protection. The disadvantage is that the superstrate must have good transparency in the visible and near IR. Lucintech has demonstrated 12% – 14% efficiencies at one sun (AM1.5) for CdTe cells on polyimide and on Corning® Willow® glass. Here we report the first PV minimodules using a 20 micron thick transparent ceramic, 3YSZ, and sputtered CdTe-based PV structures. The thin-film architecture facilitates a three-laser-scribe interconnect for monolithic integration of cells into modules. The thin-film superstrate architecture thereby provides major advantages for integration into a wide variety of applications including flexible solid-state rechargeable batteries. We will present results showing that a specific power of 3000 W/liter is readily achievable in the near term. Work supported in part by the FlexTech Alliance.