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Swiss researchers claim 29% efficiency for residential CPV panel
The module was developed by Insolight, a spin-off of Switzerland’s École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. The panel is based on tiny solar cells usually used for spaceflight applications and the limited amount used in the module makes it close to mass production, its creators claim.
Swiss start-up Insolight – founded by three researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) – has developed a new concentrating PV panel for residential application which is said to be standardized for mass production.
According to the researchers, the module has a conversion efficiency of 29% and is based on a patented optical system that concentrates sunlight on small PV cells of the kind used on satellites.
The company said the 29% efficiency was confirmed by the Institute of Solar Energy at the Technical University of Madrid (IES-UPM), and the cell reached an efficiency of around 36% at laboratory level.
The company is in talks with unspecified module manufacturers to license the technology. “Making our panels entails a few additional steps during the assembly stage. These steps could be tacked onto the end of standard production processes,” Coulot said.
