ZSW CIGS Thin-film Solar Cell Achieves 20.1% Efficiency
Source/Type: News - Staff reports

May 4, 2010... In the lab at the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung (Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, ZSW) in Germany, a CIGS thin-film solar cell has reached an efficiency of 20.1%, according to an article on the site, Renewable Energy Focus.com. The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar thin-film cell was reportedly produced in the ZSW research laboratory in Stuttgart. "This record is for thin-film technology in general and not just CIGS solar cells," said Dr. Michael Powalla, Member of the Board and Head of the Photovoltaics Division at ZSW. The tiny cell had an area 0.5 cm2 and was produced in a CIGS laboratory coating plant using a modified co-evaporation process. The article noted that in theory, the co-evaporation process can be scaled up to a commercial production process. The thin-film solar cell with a CIGS layer and contact layers reportedly has a total thickness of 4 µm. Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg, Germany has confirmed the new results. As the article points out, commercially available CIGS thin-film solar modules currently range from 10% to 12% efficiency. ZSW contends that efficiency levels of up to 15% can be achieved in commercial modules within few years.

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