Since 2005, CEA is developing this high efficiency technology disrupting the mainstream photovoltaics. Silicon Heterojunction presents some major competitive advantages that make this technology an excellent candidate to bring the PV industry to come back to region like Europe or for new comers in the market.  It combines in particular high efficiency potential with simplified design and a reduced number of process steps, which are promising when industry is looking to lower and controlled costs.

The French teams from CEA have succeeded to reach recently a new record of efficiency producing 5 busbars cells with Meyer Burger industrial equipment allowing high throughput (2400 wafers per hour). The certified result is an efficiency of 23.9% on total area full scale cells (244 sq.cm) made with standard screen printing metallization.

The heterojunction is now on its way to reach 24% and then 25%, at industrial scale. In the best laboratories worldwide today, heterojunction technology has demonstrated a potential efficiency of 25.1% for busbar cell on small areas.