"Shortly after our latest research on flexible silicon solar cells was published in Nature, government agencies actively facilitated partnerships between academia and industry.
Source: Xinhua Daily
"Shortly after our latest research on flexible silicon solar cells was published in Nature, government agencies actively facilitated partnerships between academia and industry. Within just one year, we’ve successfully brought our innovation to life!" said Professor Li Yang, Vice Dean of the Scientific Research Institute at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology and leader of the crystalline silicon solar cell research team.
The team has recently reached another significant milestone in academic-industry collaboration. A novel non-friction cutting technology for producing ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon wafers is about to be integrated into production lines. This groundbreaking method will enable large-scale production of ultra-thin silicon wafers and the mass manufacturing of the world’s first high-efficiency flexible crystalline silicon solar cells, marking a major breakthrough in photovoltaic technology.
Professor Li highlighted that one of the current bottlenecks in the photovoltaic industry is the limitation of existing silicon wafer cutting and thinning technologies, which struggle to meet the demands of ultra-thin, flexible monocrystalline silicon cells. Traditional methods involve heating polycrystalline silicon particles to over 1450°C, melting them, and then using the Czochralski process to produce monocrystalline silicon ingots. These ingots are then cut into wafers approximately 130 microns thick. However, flexible semiconductors and photovoltaic devices often require silicon wafers as thin as 30 to 50 microns. Existing approaches involve multiple processing steps, resulting in low efficiency, high energy consumption, and significant costs.
“To overcome these challenges, our team successfully validated a new non-friction cutting technology capable of producing ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon wafers directly from the production line. This single-step process reduces energy consumption and costs by over 50%,” Li explained. Looking ahead, Professor Li anticipates that within three to five years, the world’s first series of high-efficiency flexible silicon solar cell products will achieve mass production and gradually enter mature commercial markets.