27%-efficiency silicon heterojunction cell with 98.6% cell-to-module ratio driving new momentum towards the 29.4% limit
Silicon heterojunction technologies based on both-sided nanocrystalline contact layers currently offer the best passivation for commercial solar cells. We further improved this structure with rear-side polishing and progressive RF/VHF PECVD film deposition methods for doping layers, enabling high-pace mass production while maintaining notable passivation quality. Following this optimization, a certified cell efficiency above 27.0% and a fill factor of 87.06% are achieved on a large-area rectangular wafer (210 mm half-cell). With a multibusbar round-ribbon (smart-wire) design, we demonstrate a certified module efficiency of 25.44% and a module fill factor above 86% (for the first time) under a masked area of 1.63 m<sup>2</sup>, which is on par with the current world record module efficiency typically held by back-contact cell structures. Remarkably, the high V<sub>OC</sub> × FF value of 0.652-0.655 V was backed by a solid cell-to-module ratio of 98.6%. With respect to silicon single-junction solar cells, this work demonstrates significant progress toward Auger recombination dominance, a factor that is more critical than reducing front-side optical shading to approach the 29.4% efficiency limit.
Authors
- Haiming Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7293-1806)
- Hailiang Chu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3157-0957)
- Cong Guo
- Guangtao Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8288-7394)
- Haiyang Pei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9651-5240)
- Zibo Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7299-7290)
- Kun Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9059-513X)
- Jifan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6819-166X)
- Yifeng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8601-0979)
- Shu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3767-4095)
- Yongheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4442-0747)
- Zhan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3757-8394)
- Qianqian Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0696-9128)
- Xue Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9220-7991)
- Hongwei Li
- Zhigang Xie
Institutions
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- Beijing Solar Energy Research Institute (CN)
- Changzhou Institute of Technology (CN)
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64465-0
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Silicon and Solar Cell Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.11