News Article
ISET All Set for Volume Production of Low-Cost Print CIGS Modules
The firm's pilot non-vacuum ink-based production line will enable it to manufacture low-cost solar cells on glass. They initially aim to reach efficiencies as high as 14%, which has been demonstrated on a laboratory scale.
International Solar Electric Technology (ISET), a manufacturer of thin-film CIGS solar modules, has successful implemented a pilot manufacturing operation for printing solar cells on glass.
This, it hopes will validate its unique low-cost printing technology in preparation for expansion to volume production.
ISET has focused over 25 years of technology development on cost-effective methods of producing photovoltaic (PV) modules that will make solar electricity generation more affordable to achieve grid parity.
ISET's non-vacuum ink-based production method for printing solar cells on glass offers substantial cost advantages over competing high-vacuum technologies due to efficient use of semiconductor materials and low-cost capital equipment.
Vijay K. Kapur, ISET's CEO and President, hailed the success of the pilot line as "a critical step in transferring our unique technology from the lab to large scale production without requiring heavy capital investment."
He added, "We feel confident that by demonstrating high quality and performance through this intermediate step, we have significantly reduced the possibility for costly delays in implementing our capacity ramp. We have also identified valuable methods of improving performance, yield, throughput, and materials utilization."
ISET's pilot line produces monolithically integrated CIGS modules on glass substrates with an area of 1ft2. Recent production runs have achieved 11% cell average conversion efficiency.
Additionally, ISET's R&D team has fabricated laboratory devices with better than 14% efficiency.
Dr. Kapur noted that research efforts were "on track to reach 16% in the near term." ISET has established its pilot production line in a facility that can accommodate an expansion to an annual capacity of 30 MW while generating over 100 additional jobs and providing competitively priced PV products to local and international markets.
International Solar Electric Technology (ISET) is a privately held corporation located in Chatsworth, California (USA). The company was founded in 1985, and manufactures Copper Indium Gallium di-Selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells using a patented ink-printing process.
