N type TOPCon solar cell technology is one of the most popular solar technology. This is due to its higher efficiency, lower degradation. Infolink consulting expects a market share for TOPCon solar modules >60% in 2024. Below is a typical…
What is a back contact solar cell?
Back contact (BC) solar cell, is a type of Si solar cell technology, where all the electrical contacts are located at the rear side (back side) of the device. In contrast, other Si solar cell technology, such as PERC, PERT,…
What have I learnt from the hypes around AI and machine learning
It has been a year since I jumped into the AI and machine learning hype train by studying related materials online during my spare time. I am grateful that I can now apply some of the knowledge into my current…
Building integrated photovoltiacs (BiPV) can be low cost
The demand for energy in cities will continue to rise, especially with 70% of the world population expected to become urbanised by 2050. This can produce significant impact to the environment and climate. To mitigate this issue, smart and energy…
What is a HJT solar cell?
HJT is the acronym for hetero-junction solar cells. Introduced by Japanese company Sanyo in the 1980s, then acquired by Panasonic in 2010s, HJT is considered as a potential successor to the popular PERC solar cell as of the time of…
What is a TOPCON solar cell?
TOPCON (also known as passivated contact) solar cell, is touted as the next generation of solar cell technology after PERC. This novel architecture is introduced by researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany in 2013 [1]. Compared…
What is a PERT solar cell?
In the previous post, I have discussed the difference between a PERC and a conventional crystalline Si solar cell. In this post, I will talk about the PERT solar cell, which is also based on crystalline Si wafers. PERT is…
Predicting Solar Cell Efficiency with Machine Learning – Part 2 -Regularization
In part 1, ANN and linear regression models were built with Tensorflow and Keras to predict the efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells when the thickness of front silicon nitride anti-reflection layer changes. As also discussed in part 1, the…
Silicon nitride density estimation with FTIR, Ellipsometry and BHF
Silicon nitride (SiNx) is a dielectric material that is widely used as passivation layers, electrical isolation layers, as well as etch and diffusion masks for semiconductor devices. The density of SiNx layer may influence its effectiveness in achieving these roles….
Predicting Solar Cell Efficiency with Machine Learning – Part 1
Machine learning (ML) has been the hot buzzwords for many applications, from speech recognition, search engines optimization to self-driving vehicles. After completing several online ML courses, particularly Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning and Deep Learning specializations, I wonder if I could…