Corning’s Specialty Glass Combined with Oerlikon
Solar’s Micromorph® Technology Delivers Silicon-
Tandem Solar Cell with 11.9 Percent Efficiency
September 07, 2010 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time
CORNING, N.Y.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) and Oerlikon Solar
(SIX: OERL) announced today that they have achieved a record-breaking 11.9 percent stabilized conversion
efficiency in a silicon-tandem, research-size photovoltaic cell. Results were confirmed by the United States National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Based on the unique combination of Oerlikon Solar’s world leading Micromorph® technology and Corning’s thin
specialty glass, the resulting solar cell’s energy conversion efficiency exceeds the current 11.7 percent industry
record, set in 2004, and was achieved without the use of antireflective coating.
Increasing conversion efficiency, or the rate at which sunlight energy is converted into electric current, is a key
industry challenge. This milestone for Micromorph® tandem technology is particularly significant in the advancement
of thin-film photovoltaics, a rapidly progressing segment of the fast-growing solar energy industry.
The newly developed photovoltaics research cell combines the advanced light-trapping capabilities of Corning’s
specialty glass and Oerlikon Solar’s proprietary Micromorph® technology, utilizing a zinc oxide low-pressure
chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) front contact.
“The 11.9 percent efficiency achievement is an important step forward in thin-film innovation for our customers,” said
Dr. Jurg Henz, chief executive officer, Oerlikon Solar. “We look forward to continued work with Corning on a
roadmap to advance this technology to cell efficiencies of 12 percent and beyond.”
“We are thrilled with the milestone reached through this very strong collaboration between Oerlikon Solar and
Corning,” noted Dr. Gary Calabrese, vice-president, Science and Technology and director, Corning Photovoltaic
Glass Technologies. “More i