More than 20 percent efficiency: SCHOTT Solar sets new record for monocrystalline screen-printed solar cells

Mainz (ots) -
- Industrial size 156 mm x 156 mm cell achieves 20.2 percent
efficiency for the first time ever
- Cell power of 4.92 W
- Approach used in the world record poly module has now been
applied successfully to mono cells

Mainz, August 24, 2011 - SCHOTT Solar has achieved yet another top
performance. The solar company based in Mainz, Germany, has succeeded
in manufacturing the world's first industrial size 156 mm x 156 mm
monocrystalline screen-printed solar cell that achieves 20.2 percent
efficiency. This measurement was confirmed independently by
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg,
Germany at the request of SCHOTT Solar. SCHOTT Solar AG has thus
announced yet another major success in developing industry-oriented
manufacturing processes for high-efficiency solar cells.

SCHOTT Solar laid the foundation for this outstanding achievement
by developing new multicrystalline cell concepts that earned the
company the world record for module efficiency of 17.6 percent in
2010. "We then decided to intensify our efforts to develop
monocrystalline cells at the beginning of 2011. We were thus able to
apply the know-how we had gained in more than three years of
development work on multicrystalline solar cells to monocrystalline
wafers in a consistent manner," explains Dr. Axel Metz, Director of
Solar Cell Development at SCHOTT Solar in emphasizing the special
significance of this achievement.

Early attempts to transfer these industry-oriented processes to
Czochralski silicon wafers already allowed the researchers to achieve
cell efficiencies of well over 19 percent rather quickly. The team at
SCHOTT Solar then concentrated on improving the front side of the
cell in order to be able to break through the 20 percent mark.

Thanks to a very fruitful collaboration with the Schmid Group from
Freudenstadt, Germany, they were able to combine the Schmid selective
emitter technology that is already well-established in manufacturing
with the passivated rear side contact (PERC) technology of SCHOTT
Solar. Some of this research work has been supported by government
funding. The result is now the world's first 156 mm x 156 mm
screen-printed solar cell with 20.2 percent efficiency.

"The cell performance of 4.92 W that we were able to achieve has
encouraged the entire team to begin working on optimizing the actual
manufacturing process and to apply these results to the development
of highly efficient modules," says Klaus Wangemann, Head of
Development at SCHOTT Solar AG. SCHOTT Solar will be releasing
further details on how the new cell technology will be used in an
actual product very shortly. This information will also be shared at
the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
(EU PVSEC). The EU PVSEC will be held in Hamburg from September 5 - 9
and SCHOTT Solar will be exhibiting at booth A37 in hall B5.

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Additional information is available under www.schottsolar.de

Pressekontakt:
SCHOTT AG
Christina Rettig
PR Manager
Tel: +49 (0)6131 - 66 4094
Fax: +49 (0)3641 - 28889 141
christina.rettig@schott.com
www.schottsolar.de

Fink & Fuchs Public Relations AG
Alexandra Mainka
Agentur
Tel: +49 (0)611 - 74131 86
Fax: +49 (0)611 - 74131 30
alexandra.mainka@ffpr.de
www.ffpress.net