Hanergy Thin Film Power Group has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has independently confirmed a 20.56 percent cell efficiency for its US-based subsidiary MiaSolé’s thin-film device (0.86cm2) deposited on a stainless steel foil. This is a new internal record for MiaSolé that shows their dedication to continuously advance copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin film solar technology.
The films deposited for this cell were produced directly from the MiaSolé Roll Coater production line in Santa Clara, CA using an advanced 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.
“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 Dr. 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.”
MiaSolé’s proprietary technology enables high throughput manufacturing with high performance cells to create lightweight, flexible solar modules for unlimited applications in the building, transportation, and portable solar markets.