Non-vacuum printing process for CIGS solar cells on rigid and flexible substrates

Kapur, V. K.; Bansal, Ashish; Le, Phucan; Asensio, Omar Isaac

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2002.1190658

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The ab sorber was grown using an e-beam evaporation process with sub sequent selenization, and only the best efficiency on Mo (S.3%) was reported [42]. In 2003, ISET reported an efficiency of 11.7% on a Mo foil using an ink-based method [49]. In 2010, the Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Tokyo, Japan) was able to achieve 14.6% efficiency on a Mo foil using a three-stage coevaporation process [9].…”

Section: Flexible Substrate Materials and Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of progress toward 20% efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells and manufacturing issues of solar modules

Reinhard

Chirilă

Blösch

et al. 2013

2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) PART 2

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Solar cells based on chalcopyrite Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) absorber layers show the highest potential for low-cost so lar electricity by yielding comparable efficiencies to polycrystalline Si wafer-based cells, while also offering inherent advantages of thin-film technology for cost reduction. Highest efficiency of 20.3% was recently achieved on rigid glass substrate. Deposition of CIGS films onto flexible substrates opens new fields of applications and could significantly decrease production costs by employing roll to-roll manufacturing and monolithic integration of solar cells to develop modules. Whereas, some years back, it seemed difficult to reach performance levels on flexible substrates similar to that obtained on glass, recent results on flexible polyimide prove that the efficiency gap can be significantly reduced. Different materials, i.e., mostly metals or plastics, have been used as flexible substrates, with highest cell efficiency of 18.7% demonstrated on a polyimide film. Improvements in efficiencies of flexible solar cells and mod ules achieved over the past few decades are discussed in this paper, addressing the main characteristics of substrate materials. The technology transfer from laboratory research to large-scale indus trial production of CIGS modules leads to new manufacturing challenges, mainly for CIGS deposition, interconnections of cells, and long-term performance stability.

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Section: Flexible Substrate Materials and Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of progress toward 20% efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells and manufacturing issues of solar modules

Reinhard

Chirilă

Blösch

et al. 2013

2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) PART 2

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“…A lower-cost process should feature high deposition rates, high material utilization, and simpler equipment capable of processing very large substrates. One such example is a process that uses nano-components to make printable precursors that are crystallized into CIGS [14,15]. Table 3.…”

Section: Need For High-throughput Low-cost Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Efficiency CdTe and CIGS Thin-Film Solar Cells: Highlights and Challenges

Noufi

Zweibel

2006

2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conference

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Thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules of CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) have the potential to reach costeffective PV-generated electricity. These technologies have transitioned from the laboratory to the market place. Pilot production and first-time manufacturing are ramping up to higher capacity and enjoying a flood of venturecapital funding. CIGS solar cells and modules have achieved 19.5% and 13% efficiencies, respectively. Likewise, CdTe cells and modules have reached 16.5% and 10.2% efficiencies, respectively. Even higher efficiencies from the laboratory and from the manufacturing line are only a matter of time.Manufacturing-line yield continues to improve and is surpassing 85%. Long-term stability has been demonstrated for both technologies; however, some failures in the field have also been observed, emphasizing the critical need for understanding degradation mechanisms and packaging options. These two thin-film technologies have a common device/module structure: substrate, base electrode, absorber, junction layer, top electrode, patterning steps for monolithic integration, and encapsulation. The monolithic integration of thin-film solar cells can lead to significant manufacturing cost reduction compared to crystalline Si technology. The CdTe and CIGS modules share common structural elements. In principle, this commonality should lead to similar manufacturing cost per unit area, and thus, the module efficiency becomes the discriminating factor that determines the cost per watt. The long-term potential of the two technologies require R&D emphasis on science and engineering-based challenges to find solutions to achieve targeted cost-effective module performance, and in-field durability. Some of the challenges are common to both, e.g., in-situ process control and diagnostics, thinner absorber, understanding degradation mechanisms, protection from water vapor, and innovation in high-speed processing and module design. Other topics are specific to the technology, such as lower-cost and fast-deposition processes for CIGS, and improved back contact and voltage for CdTe devices.

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“…International Solar Electric Technologies (ISET) has successfully achieved efficiencies of 10.2% for 10 cm 2 cells on Mo foil substrates using a non-vacuum process [2]. DayStar Technologies has achieved efficiencies of 15.2% for 1.1 cm 2 cells and >11% for the larger 24 cm 2 cells using batch evaporation processing [3].…”

Section: Thin-film Solar Cell Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

AFRL Thin Film Solar Cell Development and Upcoming Flight Experiments

Granata¹

2005

2005 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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Abstract-The many advantages of thin-film solar cells, namely flexibility, high radiation resistance, low mass, and low cost production, will go untapped until space environmental effects on them are well understood, which requires on-orbit testing. In response to the need to perform on-orbit testing of thin-film solar cells, the Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is preparing two flight experiments. The thin-film solar cell flight experiment on the AFRL Roadrunner Mission will consist of two technologies, amorphous silicon (a-Si) and Copper Indium Gallium di-Selenide (CIGS), each producing roughly 60 W of power. The flight is planned for mid-2005 and will be in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The AFRL Deployable Structures Experiment (DSX) will host a significantly larger thin-film solar cell experiment (4.5 kW) and will fly in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) in 2009. The main objectives of both flight experiments are to characterize on-orbit thin-film solar cell performance, enabling the creation of on-orbit performance models and successful transition to operational use.

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Non-vacuum printing process for CIGS solar cells on rigid and flexible substrates

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Review of progress toward 20% efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells and manufacturing issues of solar modules

Review of progress toward 20% efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells and manufacturing issues of solar modules

High-Efficiency CdTe and CIGS Thin-Film Solar Cells: Highlights and Challenges

AFRL Thin Film Solar Cell Development and Upcoming Flight Experiments

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