The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has begun mapping out strategic steps to bring Indonesia into the global solar panel manufacturing chain. The current focus of the study is directed at the development of next-generation solar cell technologies, namely Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) and Tandem PV, to free the country from merely being a consumer of imported technology.
The transition of the world solar panel industry is currently shifting from conventional silicon to technologies with much higher efficiency levels. BRIN's step is considered crucial so that Indonesia can immediately adopt cutting-edge technology without having to go through the phase of old technology that is starting to be abandoned by the global market.
Oo Abdul Rosyid, a researcher at BRIN's Energy Conversion Technology Research Center, revealed that SHJ technology is capable of achieving efficiency above 27 percent. Meanwhile, Tandem PV technology based on perovskite-silicon is projected to have an efficiency potential exceeding 30 percent in laboratory-scale testing. Another advantage of both technologies is their ability to maintain optimal performance at high temperatures, which is ideal for tropical regions like Indonesia.
Although the domestic market continues to grow alongside the widespread implementation of rooftop solar power plants (PLTS) to floating solar power plants, Indonesia is still faced with challenges in the upstream industry. Most major components and solar cells are still imported from abroad. Intensive research conducted by BRIN in collaboration with Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) in Germany is expected to bridge this industrial gap.
The results of this comprehensive study will later be formulated into a national solar panel industry roadmap. In addition to supporting the acceleration program of the clean energy transition, mastering this next-generation technology is believed to be able to create significant economic value-add and strengthen national green energy security in the future.
