Hanwha Q CELLS, Academia, and SMEs Collaborate to Develop Next-Generation Solar Cells Targeting Global Market Leadership

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hanwha Q CELLS is taking a full-scale step toward developing next-generation solar cells in collaboration with domestic academia and small and medium-sized enterprises. Hanwha Q CELLS, which has demonstrated world-class technology in existing solar products, aims to maintain its competitiveness as a top-tier company in the rapidly changing global renewable energy market.

On the 15th, the Hanwha Q CELLS consortium announced that it was selected as a national project research institute for the next-generation solar cell technology, 'Perovskite-Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell' (Tandem Cell), in the '2020 Second Half New Renewable Energy R&D New Evaluation' hosted by the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation Institute. This project is part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's announcement on September 2 to focus government R&D budgets on securing next-generation cell technology through the 'Solar R&D Innovation Strategy.'

The consortium includes Hanwha Q CELLS, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea University, Sookmyung Women's University, Chungnam National University, NCD Co., Ltd., YAS Co., Ltd., and Daewoo Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. Hanwha Q CELLS, which has already established a next-generation solar cell research center in Pangyo since 2019 and has been conducting research on tandem cells, will secure fundamental material source technologies with consortium partners over the next three years to commercialize them. In the mid to long term, it plans to contribute to the creation of an ecosystem for the domestic solar material industry. Through this, the strategy is to actively target the global high value-added solar market by expanding the technology gap with Chinese solar companies competing on price with large-scale volumes.

Tandem cells are made by stacking the next-generation solar material perovskite on top of existing silicon solar cells. The perovskite layer at the top absorbs short-wavelength light, and the silicon solar cell at the bottom additionally absorbs long-wavelength light, resulting in higher efficiency compared to existing silicon solar cells that mainly absorb long wavelengths. While the theoretical efficiency limit of silicon solar cells, which currently account for about 90% of the global market share, is around 29%, research institutes predict that tandem cells can achieve a maximum efficiency of up to 44%, making tandem cells a promising next-generation solar cell technology.

Hanwha Q CELLS has demonstrated world-class technology by achieving the highest solar cell efficiency in 2011 in the silicon solar product field and ranking first in efficiency for polycrystalline silicon solar modules in 2015. Additionally, by conducting rigorous quality tests that exceed international standard quality criteria by two to three times, it has enhanced product reliability and consumer satisfaction. In May, it was selected as a 'Top Performer' for five consecutive years in the '2020 Solar Module Reliability Evaluation' conducted by global solar verification organizations DNV GL and PVEL. Since February 2019, Hanwha Q CELLS has been conducting research to secure source technology by establishing a next-generation solar cell research center in Pangyo.

Kim Hee-chul, President of Hanwha Q CELLS, stated, "The foundation of Hanwha Q CELLS achieving the number one market share in major solar module markets such as the United States, Germany, and Japan is the technology accumulated through continuous research and development." He added, "As major countries overseas are actively promoting renewable energy expansion policies like Korea's Green New Deal, we will secure leading technology in the next-generation solar field and enhance competitiveness in the global solar market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.