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High Efficiency Cu2O Tandem Solar Cell System that Contributes to Carbon Neutrality

  • Environment
  • Climate Change
  • Activities in Products

Toshiba Corporation Corporate Laboratory
Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation

A transparent PV cell using cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is tandem with silicon (Si) solar cell, which are currently widely used, that achieves the world's top level of power generation efficiency, so the solar cell is expected to be mounted on electric mobility including electric vehicles and to be applied to independent power systems and distributed power supplies.
With this transparent Cu2O solar cell (small cell) alone, the power generation efficiency was improved by 1.0 point from 9.5% announced in September 2022*1, achieving the world's highest*2 power generation efficiency of 10.5%. In addition, the power generation efficiency of the entire Cu2O solar cell layered on a high efficiency Si solar cell with a power generation efficiency of 25.6% can be estimated to reach 30%, confirming that it has the potential to exceed the efficiency of the world's current most efficient Si solar cell at 27.1%*3.
Toshiba Corporation Corporate Laboratory and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation estimated that if this Cu2O/Si tandem solar cell was mounted on an electric vehicle (EV), its cruising range would be approximately 39 km per day without charging*4. Going forward, the two companies will aim to achieve an EV that can be driven for long hours without charging and contribute to the electrification of transportation (or achievement of a carbon neutral society) by mounting the cell onto trains or other mobility.
Part of this achievement was obtained from the results of a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Schematic diagram of a Cu2O/Si tandem solar cell

Image of the solar cell mounted on an EV