The Cost of Ownership and Minimum Sustainable Price of POLO BJ Cells Produced in Germany

This study analyses the Cost of Ownership (CoO) and the Minimum Sustainable Price (MSP) of producing POLO BJ solar cells in a 5 GWp/a production facility in Germany compared to a facility with equal output but producing cells of the PERC concept. Assuming that the POLO BJ concept can achieve a cell efficiency of 24.2% in industrial production, the estimated CoO is 5.79 ¢/Wp, whereas the MSP is 7.16 ¢/Wp. These were found lower than for PERC, assumed with an efficiency of 23.1%, which resulted in a CoO of 6.31¢/Wp and a MSP of 7.75 ¢/Wp, respectively. The higher superior efficiency of POLO BJ also results in lower Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of between 3.02 and 3.32 ¢/kWh, depending on the module type, which is 0.14 ¢/kWh less than for systems fitted with PERC cells. Overall, this study suggests that POLO BJ solar cells are a cost-effective alternative to PERC cells.