On November 12, 2018, the “OFweek 2018 (9th) China Solar Photovoltaic Summit Forum hosted by OFweek Solar Network, hosted by China’s high-tech industry portal OFweek, was held in Shenzhen. Photovoltaic elites from all over the country gathered in Shenzhen to actively interact with industry-recognized experts and business representatives to discuss the development of solar photovoltaic industry, market status, future technology trends and investment and financing opportunities. The atmosphere was lively and interactive.

Professor Zeng Xiangbin from Huazhong University of Science and Technology took the lead in giving a wonderful speech on the theme of “Development Status and Trends of High Efficiency Solar Cells”.

Zeng Xiangbin said that in recent years, the photovoltaic industry has developed rapidly. In 2011-2016, the increment of photovoltaic power generation in the global increment has exceeded one-fourth. It is predicted that the increment of photovoltaic power generation will account for more than one-third of the total increase in 2014-2022. At present, photovoltaic power generation accounts for 1% of the total global power generation, and there is huge room for development. After 60 years of hard work, the efficiency of silicon-based batteries is generally higher than 20%, and the highest is 26.6%, which is close to the theoretical limit of S-Q.
Under the general trend of cost reduction and efficiency increase, the development of high-efficiency batteries has become an urgent task for the industry. In the speech, Professor Zeng Xiangbin explained four common high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells for the audience, including IBC batteries, HIT batteries, PERL batteries, and MWT batteries.
Zeng Xiangbin believes that the average efficiency of IBC battery mass production can reach 23%, and the efficiency of HIT battery has reached 26%. However, the cost of power generation of these high-efficiency batteries is still much higher than that of traditional methods. With the entry of China’s first-line PV manufacturers and the development of new processes and new materials, high-efficiency batteries such as IBC will continue to move forward in the direction of improving battery conversion efficiency and reducing battery manufacturing costs, with broad prospects.
After a series of analysis, Zeng Xiangbin believes that the current high-efficiency battery has the following five major trends:
1. There are many types of high-efficiency batteries, and the main prospects for industrialization are silicon-based batteries.
2. Among the silicon-based batteries, the development space is based on the PERC (PERL\PERT) series of solar cells.
3. Heterojunction battery is the most efficient silicon-based battery. It is currently the battery performance record holder, but the market space needs to be further expanded.
4. N-type batteries are getting more and more attention and development. By 2020, N-type batteries are expected to achieve low-cost batch production with an average efficiency of more than 23%; by 2021, the N-type battery market share will exceed 30%.
5. The integration of new technology development and advanced technology further enhances battery performance. HJ-IBC, TOP-contact, combination of N-type substrates, etc.