News Article
Avancis raises monolithic thin-film PV module efficiency record
New record of 15.8% aperture efficiency on a 30cm x 30cm² copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar photovoltaic thin film (PV) module
Avancis, a manufacturer of CIS solar modules, has presented a new world record in efficiency for thin-film modules at the EU PVSEC. The company has achieved a new world record of 15.8% on a 30 x 30 cm² CIS solar module.
Avancis has improved its last efficiency record of 15.5% from the beginning of the year in time for the EU PVSEC and takes the lead in the efficiency ranking list of externally certified thin-film modules. The new aperture efficiency degree of 15.8% on the fully-encapsulated and framed Champion module has been confirmed by TÜV Rhineland in an advance announcement.
According to the current efficiency record table of the magazine Prog. Photovolt. 19 (2011) 565 from August of this year, the Avancis result represents a new, independently certified efficiency record for a thin-film photovoltaic module with a size of 30 x 30 cm².
“The renewed efficiency improvement can be traced back to the reduction of the layer thickness of the CIGSSe absorber by approximately 10 % and an optimised in-line selenization process for the thinner absorbers. In addition, the P1 laser structuring was optimised and the structuring process between P1, P2 and P3 improved with the aim of further enlarging the active surface. The result was the achievement of an aperture efficiency of 15.8 %", Franz Karg, CTO of Avancis, explains the most recent success.
Important for the future application of the new technology, is that the efficiency improvement was not achieved at the expense of impaired long-term stability. The research and development department has carried out climate tests (so-called damp heat tests in accordance with the valid IEC storms) with several of the efficiency-optimised modules. All tests demonstrated long-term stability comparable with that of the previous products
