SBIR Phase I: Development of printing process of effectively transparent contacts (ETCs) for III-V, thin-film and silicon solar cells.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to boost the power output of solar cells by 5-6% and reduce manufacturing costs by ~5%. By commercializing the proposed effectively transparent contact (ETC) technology the levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) of solar energy systems could be dramatically reduced, resulting in accelerated adoption of solar energy to address greenhouse gas emission and to become independent of fossil fuels. Improving power output of solar cells is one of the most effective means to drive down LCOE, and the ETC technology is broadly applicable to improve the power output of nearly all types of solar cells. Lower-cost solar cells can also be expected to benefit the developing world as well as disadvantaged communities that lack access to the power grid. In the near term, the proposed ETC technology will unlock higher power output and new applications for III-V photovoltaics, which are used predominantly in aerospace, defense, high performance consumer electronics and automotive. These rapidly growing markets require higher power output solar cells to add functionality (RADAR, LIDAR and surveillance) by increasing the payload capacity that is currently limited by the available space to mount the solar cells. The proposed project will demonstrate the commercial viability of the ETC technology by demonstrating a new world record solar cell and scalable fabrication on commercial III-V solar cells. Metal contacts are required for charge extraction from solar cells, typically covering 5-6% of the front surface and blocking sunlight from reaching the photovoltaic material below. These losses due to blocking of incoming sunlight by the metal contacts are the largest single contribution to the performance loss in most solar cells. The proposed ETC technology eliminates these losses and thereby boost the solar cell power output by 5-6%. The ETC technology has been demonstrated at lab scale and is world's highest performing front contact technology. During the research project, ETCs will be integrated with commercial III-V solar cells supplied by prospective initial customers and world-leading research partners. The technical viability of ETCs will be established by achieving dramatic improvements in cell efficiency for each cell type, whereas the commercial viability will be established by successfully integrating the ETCs using techniques, materials, and tools suitable for commercial scale-up. Completion of these objectives will accelerate the efforts to commercialize the ETC technology, which will broadly increase power output and reduce cost of solar energy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.