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Custom solar cells manufacturing services

Accelerate photovoltaic (PV) with solar cell manufacturing services delivering custom devices with high performance.

Flexible crystalline silicon wafer with a thickness below 50 microns.

CSEM offers Solar Cells on Demand, a specialized manufacturing service for mass-customized PV devices, from design to pilot-scale production. We serve industrial and academic partners developing next‑generation PV solutions such as perovskite-on-silicon tandems, energy harvesters, and solar cells for space.

Our infrastructure for solar cell production

State-of-the-art infrastructure for low- and medium-volume production of solar cells, tailored to your specific requirements and applications. The platform supports rapid iteration from concept, via functional devices to pilot production.

Design

Cell architectures and process flows are customized to meet performance, integration, and application constraints. Emphasis on flexibility and rapid prototyping.

Wet chemistry

Our semi-automatic wet bench for advanced chemical processes enables precise surface preparation, cleaning, and texturing steps (including nano-pyramids) essential for high-performance silicon devices.

Thin‑film engineering

Deposition and optimization of functional thin films are performed to control the optical, electrical, and passivation properties for various solar cell technologies such as heterojunction technology (HJT), interdigitated back contact (IBC), tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon), perovskite, and amorphous thin films for single- and multi-junctions.

Metallization

Ultra-fine and customized metallization schemes (including silver-free approaches such as copper electroplating) are developed to ensure low bulk and contact resistances, reduction or removal of metallic silver, compatibility with novel materials, and scalable processing routes.

Characterization & testing

Comprehensive electrical, optical, and material microstructure characterization underpins process optimization and ensures device performance and reliability at every stage.

Copper-plated metallization for a shingle solar cell design.

Encapsulated three-terminal tandem solar cell with perovskite on the front side (left) and back-contacted silicon cell on the rear side (right).

CSEM’s flexible solar cell on thin c-Si wafers with expertise in p-type materials (more resilient to radiation).

CSEM's thin-film silicon-based photovoltaic module fabricated on an ultra-lightweight, space-qualified polymer sheet.

Why partner with us?

CSEM offers a unique solar cell manufacturing environment that bridges the gap between laboratory research and industrial validation. Partners benefit from a combination of custom manufacturing flexibility, state‑of‑the‑art photovoltaic know‑how, and proven execution at scale.

Our foundry model is ISO9001 certified and offers:

✅ Independent and innovative solar cells manufacturing

✅ Tailored devices on demand, with full control over architectures, surfaces, and form factors

✅ High level of confidentiality

✅ Speed and entrepreneurship

✅ Flexibility and openness to a wide range of materials and wafer sizes up to G12 full square with 210 mm of wafer edge

✅ Sustainable, low‑impact PV fabrication, in turn enabling innovative, high‑performance custom devices

Solar cell foundry services

On-demand PV fabrication for research and industry

CSEM provides on‑demand solar cell manufacturing through an advanced manufacturing model that combines modular, industrially relevant processes with deep photovoltaic R&D expertise. Our services support academic researchers, start‑ups, and industrial partners from early device validation to pre‑industrial demonstrations.

Perovskite‑on‑silicon tandem solutions

CSEM fabricates custom silicon bottom cells optimized for perovskite‑on‑silicon tandems, with active areas ranging from 1 cm² to full G12 (210 mm² silicon wafer) formats. Wafer surfaces are tailored to perovskite integration needs, including flat, nano‑textured, micro‑textured, or hybrid morphologies.

Devices are based on HJT or TOPCon passivated contact architectures and can include advanced rear reflectors for enhanced light management. Internal validation achieved >34% efficiency on 1 cm² tandems and >33% on 54 cm² devices.

CSEM also offers fully integrated perovskite‑on‑silicon tandem solar cells as a service, available in 2‑, 3‑, or 4‑terminal configurations.

Ultra‑thin solar cells for space

CSEM develops ultra‑thin and flexible solar cells for new space applications, including low‑Earth‑orbit constellations and solar sails. Technologies include perovskite devices on thin substrates and HJT solar cells on radiation‑resilient p‑type silicon wafers, with thicknesses down to 20 µm, delivering high specific power and mechanical flexibility.

PV harvesters for energy‑autonomous devices

For compact and design‑driven applications, CSEM develops perovskite and interdigitated back‑contact solar cells in custom shapes and form factors. These devices deliver higher power density than conventional harvesting technologies, while enabling superior aesthetic integration.

Target applications include wearables, IoT devices, and distributed sensors, where energy autonomy and form‑factor flexibility are critical.

Advanced metrology and quality control

CSEM complements manufacturing services with in‑house advanced metrology and quality control, tailored to small‑area devices, unconventional geometries, and back‑contacted architectures. Capabilities include (bi‑chromatic) LED‑based photoluminescence imaging and current–voltage characterization, providing rapid and reliable performance feedback.

CSEM's perovskite silicon tandem solar cells

Ready to validate your next PV innovation?

Whether you are developing next-generation perovskite tandems or specialized energy harvesters, our "Solar Cells on Demand" service is designed to bridge the gap between laboratory concepts and industrial reality while offering you full control over your device architecture.

Expertise and track record in solar cell manufacturing

CSEM provides solar cell foundry services backed by a proven track record in high‑efficiency photovoltaics, with over 13,000 devices delivered in 2025 to more than 20 academic and industrial partners worldwide, supporting advanced photovoltaic research and world‑class tandem demonstrations.

This expertise is reinforced by a strong contribution to cutting-edge solar cell efficiency, including perovskite-on-silicon tandem cells reaching certified efficiencies of up to 31.25% , surpassing the 30% milestone for low‑cost photovoltaic technologies. More recently, CSEM has contributed to record triple‑junction solar cells exceeding 30% efficiency, demonstrating the potential of multi‑junction architectures for high‑performance and space‑grade applications.

Spanning tandem photovoltaics, energy harvesting, and space‑grade devices, CSEM combines deep technology expertise with controlled fabrication processes. By bridging research‑grade performance with reproducible production, CSEM enables partners to accelerate R&D cycles, reduce technology risk, and move efficiently from concept to validated demonstrator in high‑performance PV applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are solar cells made?

What custom solar cell technologies does CSEM support?

What efficiency levels can CSEM's tandem solar cells reach?

Which applications are CSEM's custom solar cells designed for?

How does CSEM's solar cell foundry model work?

How can partners collaborate with CSEM on PV projects?