Sharp Corporation ranked No1 in the world for solar cell production will introduce two new thin-film solar (photovoltaic) modules with outstanding temperature characteristics intended for commercial/industrial applications. The new model NA-902WP is intended for industrial/commercial use in the Japanese market, while the NA-901WP is targeted at international markets. The Sharp NA-901WP and NA-902WP are high-output models, delivering 90W of power. The adoption of an Amorphous/Microcrystalline Thin-Film Tandem Cell design, which uses stacked layers of amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon achieves a conversion efficiency of 8.5% (40% higher than conventional amorphous solar cells), among the industry’s highest levels for thin-film silicon-based solar cells currently in volume production.
The most outstanding feature of these new cells is the ability to form the silicon raw materials into a layer only about 2 µm onto a glass substrate, which is roughly 1/100th as thick as conventional polycrystalline solar cells. The amount of silicon used is reduced, and the process is applicable to manufacturing cells with large surface areas.
