Fraunhofer Awarded

With the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany, for the second time in history a research organization is rewarded with the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO) Innovation Price. The price honors research that has a high potential for future applications in economy and society.

Dr. Andreas Bett and his colleagues developed concentrator solar cells with almost double the efficiency levels of conventional silicon-based cells. This was possible by stacking three different solar cells monolithically on top of each other on a substrate of germanium, thus using almost the entire solar spectrum for energy production. This way a record-efficiency of 41.1 % was achieved. The unique cells have established a new benchmark.

For the development of metamorphic triple-junction solar cells, the team has been closely collaborating for years with AZUR Space Solar Power in Heilbronn, the leading European manufacturer of solar cells for space. This partner is aiming to bring the highly efficient solar cells to the market by 2011.

Photo: Dr. Andreas Bett and Dr. Frank Dimroth (left to right) (C) Fraunhofer/Dirk Mahler

• Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany

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