ICS’ New Optics Film Solution to Increase 5-10% Output for Conventional Solar Modules

Finnish technology company, ICS has developed a new film solution called ‘Solar Energy Optics (SEO)’, which provides a 5 to 10 per cent increase in energy output for conventional solar modules and even higher gains for more advanced applications.

The company claimed that SEO is one of the key outcomes from its comprehensive industrial research and development (R&D) around light guide technology. This solution has been tested by independent third parties like the Fraunhofer ISE.

Explaining about the development, Kari Rinko, CTO at ICS, said that “we have found a way to capture and very precisely redirect light beams.”

“Our SEO film technology is based on embedded cavity optics, which is not exposed to external influences or contamination and therefore lasts as long as the solar panel itself. The SEO film is as effective as if the optics would be mounted on the whole surface of the solar panel,” Rinko added.

The SEO film technology has a comprehensive patent portfolio and it has proven to be more effective than any previously introduced and tested light capturing methodology.

On the technology, Rinko explained “we use an ultra-thin film produced in a cost-efficient roll-to-roll process. Thus, our technology is truly scalable and ready for seamless industrial adoption on a global scale. This unique technology platform determines and enables the new sustainable energy goals for the whole photovoltaic industry.”

Significantly, the increased power output from the solar panels can transform the underlying economics for a solar park for the entire lifetime of the underlying panels.

Rinko further added that “the SEO film solution enhances the amount of light that is led into the solar cells. The solar panels will get the immediate benefit, since more sunlight contributes to a more powerful solar panel.”

“One distinct feature of the SEO film solution is that the film layer is applied only on the surrounding rims, either onto the top or the bottom glass,” Rinko says. “Since it does not cover the entire surface of the solar cells, it offers economic benefits given the saving in material costs.

Rinko points out that the SEO technology focuses on controlling and redirecting more sunlight into the solar cells – not on the structure of the mono- and poly-crystalline silicon cells themselves.

“At the same time, and adding to the core optical technology, we have developed an economical way to produce the film and to apply it on the solar panels in a seamless fashion,” he says. “Therefore, we can present a truly compelling combination of state-of-the-art technology and solid production method.”