The ongoing development of photovoltaics into terawatt scale poses a number of challenges where the optics and photonics communities can contribute. An international consortium recently compiled a roadmap that elaborates on these challenges.

The EU crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV manufacturing industry has faced strong foreign competition in the last decade. To strive in this competitive environment and differentiate itself from the competition, the EU c-Si PV manufacturing industry needs to (1) focus on highly performing c-Si PV technologies, (2) include sustainability by design, and (3) develop differentiated PV module designs for a broad range of PV applications to tap into rapidly growing existing and new markets. This is precisely the aim of the 3.5 years long H2020 funded HighLite project, which started in October 2019 under the work program LC-SC3-RES-15-2019: Increase the competitiveness of the EU PV manufacturing industry. To achieve this goal, the HighLite project focuses on bringing two advanced PV module designs and the related manufacturing solutions to higher technology readiness levels (TRL). The first module design aims to combine the benefits of n-type silicon heterojunction (SHJ) cells (high efficiency and bifaciality potential, improved sustainability, rapidly growing supply chain in the EU) with the ones of shingle assembly (higher packing density, improved modularity, and excellent aesthetics). The second module design is based on the assembly of low-cost industrial interdigitated back-contact (IBC) cells cut in half or smaller, which is interesting to improve module efficiencies and increase modularity (key for application in buildings, vehicles, etc.). This contribution provides an overview of the key results achieved so far by the HighLite project partners and discusses their relevance to help raise the EU PV industries' competitiveness. We report on promising high-efficiency industrial cell results (24.1% SHJ cell with a shingle layout and 23.9% IBC cell with passivated contacts), novel approaches for high-throughput laser cutting and edge re-passivation, module designs for BAPV, BIPV, and VIPV applications passing extended testing, and first 1-year outdoor monitoring results compared with benchmark products.