On May 24, the flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell technology for which TW Solar participated in development was published on the top-notch academic journal Nature and was presented on the cover. This signifies that the company has accomplished major breakthrough in development of ultrathin flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell technology.

Flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell technology for which TW Solar participated in development was published on the top-notch academic journal Nature

According to research, the rupture of monocrystalline silicon solar cell induced by bending stress always starts from the "V" shaped groove at the edge of the monocrystalline silicon wafer. Given this fact, the research team developed the innovative edge rounding technology that changes the surface at the edge of wafer and the "V" shaped groove on the side surface into smooth "U" shaped groove and modifies the structural symmetry on the mesoscale, so that the "brittle" rupture of monocrystalline silicon is changed into "elastoplastic" secondary shearing zone rupture. Besides, the rounding is done only at the wafer edge without affecting the light absorption capacity of wafer surface and back side, so the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the solar cell remains unchanged. This technical solution can significantly enhance the "flexibility" of silicon wafer, where a monocrystalline silicon solar cell with 60μm thickness can be folded like an A4 paper and the minimum bending radius is reduced to less than 5mm. The wafer can also be repeatedly bent, with bending angle exceeding 360°. In this process, the simple modification allows fabrication of flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell, and the feasibility of mass production has been demonstrated at a production line, which renders a feasible technical route for development of lightweight flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell.

Flexible solar cell can be bent with bending radius less than 5mm and bending angle exceeding 360°

From 2018, Tongwei started working with the CAS Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology in developing the silicon heterojunction solar cell industrialization technology. Tongwei has commissioned the GW-level experimental production line that can produce the cell with 26.18% efficiency (ISFH certified). The emerging new technologies adequately demonstrate the strong innovative power of Tongwei.

The journal Nature was founded in 1869 and is one of the most prestigious science journals in the world. This journal is committed to reporting the major discoveries and breakthroughs in the scientific world, and the scientific achievements have to be innovative enough to merit a report on this journal. Among the numerous general scientific journals, Nature ranks the first place in the world in terms of how many times it has been quoted.