Before diving into PERC solar panel technology and its benefits, it is important to have a proper understanding of traditional solar panels and how they work. Traditional solar panels are called monocrystallin.
Poly c-Si solar cells with 18.46% efficiency get an increased efficiency of 18.61% when manufactured with PERC technology, the difference is even more notorious with mono c-Si solar cells. A traditional mono c-Si panel has a 19.55% efficiency, but this efficiency increases by 0.86% to achieve 20.41% for mono PERC solar panels.
The global manufacturing capacity of Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) devices on p -type Czochralski-grown silicon (Cz-Si) wafers is increasing rapidly. This paper analyses various industrial process improvements carried out in our lab to improve the efficiency of large-area Cz-Si PERC solar cells from 20.7% to 21.9%.
How are PERC solar cells made?
Poly PERC solar cells are manufactured by blending or melting different silicon fragments together, while mono PERC solar cells are manufactured using a single silicon crystal, free from grain limits (2D defects).
What are PERC solar panels?
One option that outstands from the rest is the Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) solar technology which allows for the creation of PERC solar panels. The PERC solar panel is a highly efficient and improved type of PV technology that uses Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) and fixes some inconveniences of this traditional technology.
Does PERC improve efficiency?
This paper investigated the efficiency gains experimentally achieved in our lab with several industrially-feasible PERC improvements, leading from a baseline PERC efficiency of 20.7% to improved PERC devices with 21.9% efficiency.
What is PERC technology?
Other advanced panel technologies PERC is only one of the available technologies to improve efficiency and applications for solar panels. There are other advanced technologies like Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) and Bifacial Solar Cell (BSC) technology. Manufacturers can use either one or even combine PERC with IBC or BSC.