Imec is a leading research organization focused on nano-electronics and digital technology. It was founded in 1984 in Leuven, Belgium as an independent non-profit and has over 3,400 employees from over 70 nationalities working across multiple locations globally. Imec's energy research focuses on developing high-performance solar cell and battery technologies to enable renewable energy solutions through nanotechnology and materials innovation.
2. World-leading research in nano-
electronics
Combining scientific knowledge with
innovation power through global
partnerships in ICT, healthcare and
energy
Toward industry-relevant technology
solutions for a better life in a sustainable
society
With international top talent in an
unique high-tech environment
MISSION
3. Founded in 1984 in Leuven, Belgium
Independent non-for-profit organization
~600M€ revenue in 2016
Collaboration with ~600 companies and
~200 universities
>1 B€ infrastructure
~3400 people working at imec & iMinds
~500 residents and ~70 nationalities
~1000 peer-reviewed publications per year
~125 patents filed per year
200MM
CMOS LINE
CLEANROOM
UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
BATTERY
LAB
SILICON
SOLAR
CELL LINE
THIN FILM
LINE
300MM
CMOS LINE
NERF
LAB
10. ENABLINGTHE INTERNET OF POWER ...
Generation Storage Distribution Dispatching
Internet of Data Central
Ubiquitous generation of
information
Central
Ubiquitous storage
devices
Central
Extreme
Interconnectivity
Data flow known and
controllable
Strongly fluctuating
Internet of Power Central large-scale
power plants
Decentralized
production – prosumers
Balancing
Distributed storage
One-directional flow
through transmission
and distribution grid
Bi-directional flow of
energy
Stable base load
Highly fluctuating
resources (solar, wind)
Related
imec-activity
PV-technology Solid-state batteries Efficient convertors
based on GaN
Energy yield
prediction
13. DOES IT END HERE?
Fraunhofer ISE, 2014
Residential electricity price
PV electricity
price
14. PV: REDUCTION OF COST/KWh
Further reduction LCOE:
Reduction of cost (further scaling,standardization)
Increasing performance to reduce BOS
Increasing lifetime
Increasing energy yield
Levelized cost of
electricity
=
Investment
cost
Maintenance cost
+
Years of
operation
Annual energy
output
x
Cost for energy storage
(balancing)+
Courtesy ofW. BSW,Germany
16. CONFIDENTIAL
MISSION OF IMEC PV PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP
HIGH PERFORMANCE CELL & (SMART) PV MODULE
TECHNOLOGIES OPTIMIZED FOR
MAXIMUM ENERGYYIELD
TO PAVE A CLEAR PATH TOWARDS
RELIABLE AND LOW COST OF PV
GENERATED ELECTRICITY.
17. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION MARKET SHARES
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
%
C
o
n
t
r
i
b
u
t
i
o
n
Cz Px Si Ribbon Si a-SI CdTe CIGS
Courtesy of Paula Mints
Monocrystalline Si
Multicrystalline Si
a-Si:H
CdTe/CIGS
18. IMEC SOLAR CELLTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
19
COMBINING THE BEST OF 2WORLDS
20 % -
10 % -
30 % -
Cost(€/Wp) on module level
1.5 1 0.75 < 0.5
Efficiency
target
High band-gap TF-PV
top cell
Crystalline Si-PV
Bottom cell
19. IMEC SOLAR CELLTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
20
COMBINING THE BEST OF 2WORLDS
20 % -
10 % -
30 % -
Cost(€/Wp) on module level
1.5 1 0.75 < 0.5
Efficiency
target
20. 1000m² STATE OF THE ART Si SOLAR FACILITIES
21
PRE-PILOT LINEWITH INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT (“S-LINE”)
21. ACTIVITIES IN S-LINE
Focus of process development on n-type Cz-Si substrates
Stabilized processes available also for p-type Si
Also newer types of substrates are tested e.g. epitaxial Si-wafers supplied by Crystal Solar
Development of new/cost-effective process steps
New passivation layers (including new types of layers for passivated contacts)
New methods for local doping (laser doping, epitaxial growth)
New metallization schemes
Simplified cleaning schemes (cost-effective/lower amount of chemicals)
Implemented and tested in 6 inch Cz-Si wafer platforms
Obtain statistically relevant results by processing on sufficiently large batches of wafers
Supported by:
Continuous SPC-tests to keep equipment under control
Cost-of-Ownership calculations
22
DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY PERFORMING CELL TECHNOLOGIES
23. M.A. Green et. al. 1993:
Respond ideally to direct and diffuse light from the
sky, horizon and ground reflections.
The more diffused light the highest ratio back/front
Extended daily operation during summer
20% annual energy gain with typical meadow
albedo’s
A.Aberle et. al. 1996;
Bifacial cells with bi-faciality of 98%
P. Verlinden et al 1997
Boost the overall efficiency in solar airplanes as it
collects light reflected from the earth and clouds
Absorbs less IR and operate at lower average
temperature
Bi-facial cells and modules – an old story
24. OUR PRESENT FOCUS: BIFACIAL CELLS&MODULES
Light can enter from both sides high energy yield
Compatible with glass-glass modules / best reliability (0.2-03% degradation/year)
Compatible with east-west orientation = flatter generation profile over the day
Compatible with vertical modules (soiling in dry enviroments)
Low Cost-Of-Ownership
Market share increase of bifacial cells (ITRPV)
ENERGYYIELDVERSUS EFFICIENCY
25. 29
LATEST I-V RESULTS OF BIFACIAL CELLS
Results of batch of 44 bifacial nPERT cells
Plating was performed on a batch of 25 wafers simultaneously on both sides (=cassette co-
plating)
Measured with GridTOUCH system (wire shading removed from measurement)
Measurement based on ISE CalLab calibrated reference cell
239 cm2, ~ 5 Ωcm, 180 µm
Average I-V data (front STC illum.) GridTOUCH @ imec (lowly reflective chuck)
Jsc
(mA/cm2)
Voc
(mV)
FF
(%)
Eta
(%)
Average 40.4 691.2 80.3 22.4
St. Deviation 0.1 1.6 0.6 0.2
Best cell 40.5 694.2 81.1 22.8
26. IMEC SOLAR CELLTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
30
COMBINING THE BEST OF 2WORLDS
20 % -
10 % -
30 % -
Cost(€/Wp) on module level
1.5 1 0.75 < 0.5
Efficiency
target
27. COMBINING FORCES FOR THIN-FILM PV
31
SOLLIANCE
R&D partners: ECN,TNO, imec, FZ Jülich,TU/e
250FTE
>6000m2 Labs
Open research lines for CIGS and
Perovskites
Focuses on (alternatives for) CIGS, and hybrid-organic
photovoltaics (HOPV)
Development of short-term solutions and
mid- and long-term R&D
Develop and improve generic technology solutions,
deposition techniques, processing, and laser technologies
28. EXCELLENT RESULTS
32
OPV-CELLS AND MODULES
From OPV-cells: to OPV-
modules:
Certified polymer cells > 9%
Polymer module = 7.2%
Polymer tandem ≈ 9.1% (10.6%)
Polymer triple junction = 9.6%
Small molecule tandems = 9.2%
Hadipour et al.,Adv. Energy Mater., 1, 930 (2011)
externally certified
PCE 7.8% on 1cm2
device
29. THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: PEROVSKITES
Crystal structure similar to calcium titanate (CaTiO3)
Perovskites for PV application are of nature
Organic cation – central metal cation – halide anions
Strong absorbing and ambipolar charge carrier transporters
Very thin (300nm) active layers
Easily solution processed
Soluble halide precursors
Low-cost, low-temperature (<150°c) coating processes
generic formula:ABX3
commonly: methylammonium - lead - halide, e.g. MALIC
30. PVVALUE CHAIN
Materials PV-cell PV-module PV-system
PV-system
integration
Equipment Equipment
Covered by present
imec R&D-activities
Si-material
Chemicals
Metallization pastes
…
Total
Kaneka
PVT
Schott Solar
Solland Solar
…
Meco
Rena
Tempress
Solaytec
…
31. PVVALUE CHAIN
Materials PV-cell PV-module PV-system
PV-system
integration
Equipment Equipment
Covered by present
imec R&D-activities
Si-material
Chemicals
Metallization pastes
…
Total
Kaneka
PVT
Schott Solar
Solland Solar
…
How create value
in this part of the value chain?
Meco
Rena
Tempress
Solaytec
…
33. WHY EXTENDTO PV-MODULES?
More validation on module level required
High performance compromised on module level when encapsulation/glass are not well
adapted
Energy yield optimization needs to be done on module level
Traditional module certification is not matched to advanced high-
performance Si cells
New certification protocols require understanding of ageing
phenomena inside the module
Applications like BIPV require capability of dedicated module design
and production
34. ENERGYYIELD MODELLING ACTIVITIES
68
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE KWh...
Energy yield modelling activities
Simulation of distributed effects in module
(e.g. thermal gradients and transients from wind and wind
velocity changes)
Limit computation time by scenario development
Reliable energy yield predictions of short- and longterm
energy yield
First Si-modules, then extension toTF-technologies
Validation of model by indoor and
outdoor measurements
293.6
295.4
293.6
293.2297.0
322.3
297.0
293.2
295.4
293.6
293.2
y x
z
293.6
36. MICRO-TECHNOLOGY IN THE ELECTRODES
Separator + liquid electrolyte
aluminum
copper
• 50 vol. % of LiMOx
in cathode layer
• Carbon anode
-
+
~100mm
Particle-based Li-ion
battery electrode
fabricated with
micron-sized powder
20mm
5mm
37. NANOPARTICLES
Area-enhancement of nanoparticles increase the rate performance
of cells
Switch to nanoparticles is hindered by enhanced surface reactivity
of nanoparticles:
Negative effects of material dissolution and increase passivation layer
LTO is chemically stable and also has not volume expansion
Typical cathode materials (LCO, LMO, NCA) suffer from fast degradation
Solutions to the chemical instability issue:
Coating of the nanoparticles to block contact with liquid electrolyte solution
Use “solid-electrolytes” which do not give such chemical interaction
Solid-state electrolytes will also lead to safer and reliable batteries
38. THE KEY ENABLER IS
... SOLID-STATE ELECTROLYTE CONDUCTIVITY
The ion conductivity of the SE determines the solid-state battery device architecture
10-7 - 10-6 S/cm 10-5 - 10-4 S/cm 10-3 - 10-2 S/cm
Glass electrolyteSolid-Electrolyte
Ion-Conductivity
Material
development
Composite electrolyte Next Gen. Composite electrolyte
Thin-film battery Composite film battery Particle composite battery
Solid electrolyte TF
Anode TF
Cathode TF
current collector
current collector
<1mm
<2.5mm
<2.5mm
Solid electrolyte TF
Conductive anode
Composite
cathode
current collector
current collector
<1mm
<20mm
<2.5mm
<5mm
>70mm
>70mm
Composite electrodes are needed for electrodes >2.5um in thickness:
active material + ionic conductor (electrolyte) + electronic conductor
Thin-film electrodes
and electrolyte
Device
development
Distance between electrodes
limited to 1 micron range
Distance between electrodes
limited to 10 micron range
Distance between electrodes
limited to 100 micron range
39. DESIGN OF SOLID NANOCOMPOSITE ELECTROLYTESWITH
ENGINEERED ION CONDUCTIVITY
We make solid electrolytes in which we replace the limited bulk ion conductivity by
enhanced “surface” conductivity in the bulk
How:
by creation of nanocomposite materials with large interface between compositions
by further engineering the ion conductivity using conductivity promotors
Fast
interface
diffusion!
40. BATTERY LABS AND DRY ROOM
Imec-Leuven: Battery lab
for material
development and testing
with battery assembly in
coin cells
Imec-Genk (new site)
sheet-to-sheet upscaling
of processes up to large
(1Ah) pouch cells
Imec-Eindhoven: battery
lab for assembly and
battery modules
42. DISPATCHING LOCALLY GENERATED AND STORED ENERGY
Bidirectional energy flow on the grid
DC-nanogrid@home (PV-modules, batteries)
A lot of energy is lost in the conversion
97
MASSIVE NEED FOR EFFICIENT CONVERTORS
43. HOW REDUCE THE LOSSES IN CONVERTORS?
98
HIGH-Eg SEMICONDUCTORS ... BUT WHICH ONE?
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
Eg (eV)
mn (103 cm2/V s)
nsat(107 cm/s)Ebr (MV/cm)
IntrinsicTemp (C)
Si
SiC
GaN
EG(eV)
µn (103cm2/Vs)
vsat (107cm/s)Ebr (MV/cms)
Tintr (C)
Si SiC GaN
Eg (eV) 1.1 3.2 3.4
mn (cm2/V s) 1350 600 900 (Bulk)
1500 (2DEG)
sat (107 cm/s) 1 2 2.5
Ebr (MV/cm) 0.3 3 3.3
Tintrinsic (C) 300 800 1300
Gallium Nitride
High voltage
High power
High frequency
Efficient light emission
48. Soft HardHard Soft
Expertise
Material
Component
Subsystem
Nanogrid
Microgrid
Energy
highways
Materials for PV, Batteries and
power transistors
Multicarrier
& Energy Markets
Material
Component
Subsystem
Nanogrid
Microgrid
Energy
highways
Multicarrier
& Energy Markets
PV-cell/module technology
Battery cells
Power electronic circuits (convertors, ...)
Battery cell combined with BMS
BIPV-modules
Building electrical modelling
DC-nanogrids
HEMS Renovation
Smart thermal storage
Smart substation controllers
T-storage tanks
T-activated buildings
Shallow geothermie
Material development for
higher density storage
Building thermal modelling
Thermal nanogrids
Web tool HEMS
Energy conversion technology
Heat Electricity
Electricity Heat
District electrical modelling & network design
City design with optimal
Broadband district heating and cooling network
Fault detection&management
T-modelling&network design
integration of RES (IDEAS)
HVDC dynamics/real-time system simulation
Device interoperability
Operator interaction (DSO-DSO, DSO-TSO, ...)
Decision support grid operators
Multi-energy Decision support
Energy monitoring & policies
Energy scenarios&Market design
Trading & managing of flexibility & interoperability
imec
Imec
(former
iMinds)
Storage-integrated components
Heat exchange/aggressive context
52. KEY MESSAGES
imec works on the key components to enable the Internet of Power
PV: Large emphasis on PV-performance to enable further LCOE-reduction
stronger emphasis on energy yield then on pure efficiency under standard
conditions
Storage: Towards safer and more performing batteries by Solid-State Batteries
GaN-on-Si:More efficient and faster switching power devices
Cooperation within EnergyVille allows to demonstrate key
components/devices on system level
ENABLING THE INTERNET OF POWER