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“This will help make solar panels more affordable and accelerate the transition to clean energy,” said lead researcher Ruohan Zhong. Image: Georgia Institute of Technology.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells that use copper paste instead of silver with a maximum conversion efficiency of 24.3%.

The paper, ‘Characterization of 24.3% screen-printed Cu-contacted n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cell with laser enhanced contact optimization’, was published in the journal Solar Energy. The researchers, led by PhD student Ruohan Zhong, produced the solar cells using a prototype copper paste developed by Kentucky-based Bert Thin Films, which can be deployed using “standard industrial screen-printing and firing equipment”, according to the academics.

By JP Casey