MiaSolé sets CIGS milestone
NREL confirms 20.56 percent cell efficiency for thin-film device deposited on stainless steel foil
CIGS solar company MiaSolé, part of the Hanergy Group, says that the US DoE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed a 20.56 percent cell efficiency for a thin-film device (0.86cm2) deposited on a stainless steel foil. This is a new internal record for MiaSolé's solar technology.
The films deposited for this cell were produced directly from the MiaSolé Roll Coater production line in Santa Clara, CA using a process that incorporates multiple breakthroughs for delivering select alkali elements as well as precise compositional control of the Ag-alloyed CIGS absorber. The processes that enabled this high-efficiency device are directly transferrable to high volume manufacturing, according to the company.
“Our innovative continuous deposition system enables us to rewrite the process development playbook. By experimenting at the manufacturing scale, we can bring high-efficiency thin-film solar cells into production at a faster rate,” said Neil Mackie senior director of process development at MiaSolé. “Seamless integration of manufacturing methods into advanced process development is already enabling the next generation of high efficiency and high-reliability thin-film solar products from MiaSolé.”
