Heliatek achieves 9.8 % organic solar cell efficiency

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 06 Dec 2011

Organic solar firm Heliatek, which is commercialising devices based on small molecule vacuum processes, has raised the bar on organic solar cell efficiencies.

The Fraunhofer ISE CalLab in Germany certified a cell efficiency of 9.8 % for a 1.1cm² tandem cell under standard test conditions. In Q4 2010 Heliatek set a previous efficiency record of 8.3 % for an active surface of 1.1cm².

Martin Pfeiffer, co-founder and CTO of Heliatek, says: 'Organic solar cells from Heliatek have now reached the level of efficiency of conventional solar cells made from amorphous silicon.'

The tandem cell construction will gradually be integrated into the Dresden, Germany-based company's manufacturing process after the scheduled start of production in the second half of 2012. Efficiencies of more than 9% for the active module area can be achieved by scaling up cells to panel sizes at a factor greater than 120.

Heliatek will continue to focus on efficiency improvements, says CEO Thibaud Le Séguillon.

He states: 'The next step on our way to 15% will be a cell with over 10 % efficiency sometime next year.'

Expansion and markets

Heliatek, already backed by BASF and Bosch, is scheduled for a third investment round in 2012, during which the firm plans to raise €50 million from current and new investors.

The funds will be used to expand production capacity with additional manufacturing lines, which the company intends to use to supply panels for emerging and niche applications, such as windows and façades for building-integrated photovoltaics (PVs).

Heliatek is partnering with a glass company to develop tinted glass panels with energy harvesting capability. The company also has its sights on sunbelt markets: regions near the equator line with temperatures so high that the performances of conventional silicon PV panels are diminished as a result.

Targeting sunbelt markets will also allow Heliatek to exploit the low-cost infrastructure that organic (O)PVs entail, where production on flexible substrates enables panel manufacturing in a range of form factors, for diverse applications and demands.

The company is also involved in collaborative R&D to achieve long-term cost reductions and performance optimisation for tandem OPV cell technology. X10D, is exploiting advances in both small molecule organic solar cell technology - pioneered by Heliatek - and printable OPV materials and processes.

Heliatek's research into efficiency advances has been support financially through the R&D projects of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as the European Regional Development Fund and Freistaat Sachsen.

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