Invisible metal contacts for solar cells – boosting power output while cutting costs

ended

Solar cells use metal contacts to convert sunlight into electricity. Flat metal contacts typically cover 5% of the solar cell front surface, blocking some incoming sunlight from reaching the active area of the solar cell. This shading loss is the largest single contributor to performance loss in 95% of commercial solar cells. Excellence ETC Solar has developed Effectively Transparent Contacts (ETCs) that eliminate shading losses. Unlike incumbent technologies, our patented ETCs efficiently redirect sunlight back to the active area of solar cells. ECTs achieve optical transparency of 99.9%, offer excellent conductivity and boost solar cell power output by 5%: they are the world’s highest performing front contact technology. We developed and built a specialist printing tool to integrate ETCs directly onto solar cells. Impact In this project, we will commercially launch ETCs in our beachhead market, III-V solar cells – widely used in satellites, aerospace, cars and consumer products. We will sell the ETC printing tool directly to solar cell manufacturers. The total III-V solar cell market size is €9BN; the Serviceable Addressable Market is €235M, plus annual recurring revenues of €36M for consumables. Implementation The founding team includes experts in solar energy the US and Europé, and the founder of the world’s largest III-V solar cell manufacturer. This project will transition our working prototype into commercial production. Our global sales funnel already includes two conditional orders, four ongoing customer pilot tests and 19 potential customers who have expressed strong interest in adopting ETC technology.