Indium Corporation

From One Engineer to Another

Record Makes Thin-Film Solar Cell Competitive with Silicon Efficiency

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 by Indium Author [Indium Author]

It was great to learn that the team at NREL have broken their own record and achieved 19.9% efficient CIGS solar cell.

Kudos to the team at NREL for this remarkable achievement.

Monday, August 18, 2008 by Sigis:: Clear article,good news. CIGS cells will be more affordable than “classical pv cells. But, the working time CIGS cells is shorten?
Friday, October 24, 2008 by Fezan Sayed:: Valid point. All the exotic thin film cells require careful selection of assembly materials. High performing seals and encapsulant have an ability to significantly increase the usable life of thin film solar cells.
Friday, August 14, 2009 by DIYSolarPower:: 20% seems a little weak in todays standards.
Monday, August 17, 2009 by Jim H.:: You are correct in reference to the efficiency of c-Si cells, but thin film cells (although lower efficiency) are much cheaper to produce, are affected less by temperature changes, utilized incedent light more effectively, and even look better in most cases. I believe Fezan was highlighting the CIGS’ technologies ability to compete with the well established c-Si technology. Watt/$ is the important factor for most of our readers customers.
Saturday, September 5, 2009 by Solar Power Installation:: Ages since this post! Anyhow congrats for breaking your record.
Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Burton Dale:: As a researcher some years back using indium as a marker in spectrographic analysis at Space Sience Services, I oft wondered when indium would replace silicon in improving photovoltaic efficiency. Now I Know. Burton Dale