MetaShield LLC, a company focused on advanced glass-based coating technology, announced an independent research study indicating its proprietary MetaSOL nanotechnology coating can provide a 1.2 percent (absolute) efficiency boost for triple junction solar cells.
“The enhancement provided by MetaSOL represents a five-year technological leap forward based on recent yearly average increases of around .2% for solar PV module efficiency,” said Martin Ben-Dayan, MetaShield LLC’s founder and CEO, referencing a research report on solar cell efficiency improvements published by GTM Research in its PV Pulse publication in April 2014.
MetaSOL is a nanoparticle embedded glass-based coating that increases solar cell efficiency using advanced light-trapping technology. The patent-pending formula is spray-coated directly onto the existing anti-reflective coating on the solar cells and hardens at room temperature, forming a transparent ~200nm glass film. The embedded nanoparticles employ strong forward scattering to affect optical enhancement in solar cells.
MetaShield commissioned the study with a grant from the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) TAP program. The research was conducted at the MetaShield R&D facilities and verified by OAI-Optical Associates, a leading testing company in San Jose, Calif.
MetaSOL is in beta production and available to solar cell manufacturers.
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Insights from the study
• MetaSOL, when applied to triple junction solar cells, boosted their efficiency 1.2 percent (absolute). This increase amounts to the industry progress expected over five years by GTM Research, which predicted that efficiency of conventional solar panels is likely to improve by an average of about .2 percent annually.
• In the study, triple junction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge solar cells, were coated with MetaSOL. The solar cells used were not encapsulated and already had commercial AR coatings. The current-voltage measurements (J-V curve) of the devices were measured under AM1.5 simulated solar spectrum illumination at OAI-Optical Associates, before and after the coating was applied. The comparison revealed an increase in device efficiency from 29.39 percent to 30.59 percent, an absolute increase of 1.2 percent.
• Upon application, the product solidifies in air at room temperature and forms a thin film layer with refractive index of ~1.5. MetaSOL’s light-trapping coating employs plasmonic and dielectric nanoparticles to enhance the forward scattering of light incident on solar cells, and hence increase the short circuit current and the overall photo-conversion efficiency of these devices.
— Solar Builder magazine
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