Panasonic introduces the Amorton, an integrable solar cell based on amorphous silicon. This makes custom PV applications possible: the solar cells can be produced in any shape without difficulty. The amorphous silicon cells can be applied to various substrates. There are substrates of glass, plastic film and stainless steel. The Amorton family is available as an indoor module, which is optimized to generate energy at low light intensities, and as an outdoor module, which is aimed at higher light intensities. There are different sizes of both versions.
- indoor glass substrate 0.7 and 1.1mm thick and 0.63V per cell
- outdoor glass substrate 1.1 and 1.8mm thick and 0.89V per cell
- outdoor film substrate 0.3mm and 0.82V per cell
Amorphous silicon cells are already serialized during the manufacturing process, which allows different voltages to be formed, multiples of the cell voltage. As with most solar cells, a cover on part of one cell, will have the same effect on the entire panel. So if one cell is covered 10%, the current generated in the total panel will decrease 10%, regardless of the number of series-connected cells that make up the panel. The human eye sees light with a wavelength of about 400700nm, the amorphous silicon cells have about the same sensitivity. That means this technology is also suitable as a light sensor in applications. The Panasonic Amorton solar cells are excellent for powering portable electronics, wireless sensors, IOT devices or as a lifetime extender for battery-powered devices.
