The IBC4EU project, formed by 21 partners (17 funded, 4 associated), will develop cost effective and sustainable bifacial interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cell and module technology on pilot line level.

Based on business cases from the whole value chain - ingot, wafer, cell and module - the IBC4EU project will demonstrate that IBC technology is the most promising choice for a fast launch of GW scale PV production in the EU. Cost competitiveness not only against future heterojunction (HJT) and Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology but also present-day PERC and PERC technology will be demonstrated for the polyZEBRA and POLO IBC cell designs. To reach this goal, cost-effective production equipment will be developed and eco-design approaches will be employed to reduce the need for scarce materials such as silicon metal and silver and to maintain an indium-free design. Pilot lines, interlinked on all levels of production, will help to reach GW scale mass production not only on cell but also on ingot, wafer and module level until 2030. The advantage of the chosen IBC technology is that it is based on existing production technology.

The project will focus on improving existing processing steps on already available equipment, introducing some novel equipment to reduce the cost of ownership, and employing Industry 4.0 solutions for predictive maintenance, quality control and traceability. The feasibility of the chosen technologies and the innovative products will be evaluated by business related parameters as well as performance characteristics, which will be tested according to the relevant standards and in demo sites. The environmental impact will be monitored closely and eco-design approaches will be used to reduce the CO2 footprint, increase the resource efficiency and recyclability and improve in terms of circularity potential.

IBC4EU project, is coordinated by the International Solar Energy Research center Konstanz ISC EV (ISC Konstanz).

The funded partners:ISC Konstanz (Germany), ProTech (Lithuania), Norsun AS (Norway), Energyra B.V. (Netherlands), FuturaSun srl (Italy), IMEC (Belgium), CEA INES (France), TNO (Netherlands), ISFH (Germany), Copprint Technologies Ltd (Israel), LuxChemTech GmBH (Germany), WIP (Germany), UAB Valoe Cells (Lithuania), Valoe Oyj (Finland), HighLine Technology GmbH (Germany), Kalyon A.S. (Turkey), Becquerel Institute (Belgium)

The associated partners: Centrotherm AG (Germany), LPKF Laser & Electronics AG (Germany), Toyo Aluminium K.K. (Japan), RENA Technologies GmbH (Germany)

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Valoe Oyj published this content on 01 December 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 01 December 2022 10:43:06 UTC.