The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been working on the technology of high concentrating photovoltaics. This is focused by a Fresnel lens, the sunlight, and then direct it to a very small, but highly efficient solar cell.Developed at Fraunhofer ISE module technology FLATCON ® has been continuously further developed. The Freiburg researchers can now announce with 36.7%, a new world record for this concentrator. This has been achieved, the efficiency was him, as measured by the adjustment of the lenses on a new solar cell structure under CSTC-Conditions, the acronym stands for "concentrator standard testing conditions." It is so far the highest efficiency for a photovoltaic module.
Essential to achieving this new world record was that the Fraunhofer ISE newly developed, on the so-called wafer bondingTechnology-based four-junction solar cells the company Soitec Solar was able to use in their FLATCON ® module concept. The module has an aperture area of €‹832 cm², that is, on the surface the light impinges on the module surface. It uses 52 each 16 cm ² large Fresnel lenses,to the sunlight by a factor of 230 to focus on about seven square mm cells. "We are obviously very excited about this high module efficiency," says Dr. Andreas Bett, head of the development in this area at Fraunhofer ISE for many years and for the year 2012 together with Hans Hansjoerg Lerchenmueller,Soitec Solar was awarded the German Environment Prize. "This success shows us that it is possible the high efficiency of the new four-junction solar cells Soitec transferred to the modules."
Only a few months ago had the Fraunhofer ISE, together with Soitec, the French research institute CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, where a new efficiency record for solar cells of 44.7% known under concentrated light. Four sub-cells were used in this record the first cell, which consists of the compound semiconductors, GaInP, GaAs, GaInAs, InP. Since the production of such solar cells as compared to standardSilicon solar cells is significantly more expensive, they come so far only in concentrator for use.
, Concentrator systems are built up in sunny regions and generate solar power for costs under 8 euro cents per kilowatt hour. The key to this technology is the efficiency of the cells and the concentrating optics.In the record module, the newly developed four-junction solar cell with Fresnel lenses were combined, which were manufactured industrially for a new design of the Fraunhofer ISE by the industrial partner ORAFOL Fresnel Optics. An implementation of the high module efficiencies in commercial products can be expected in one to two years.

Link to article:http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/presse-und-me...-konzentratorphotovoltaik