On October 5th, 2011, Nanosolar Inc. (San Jose, California, U.S.) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, U.S.) has confirmed a  17.1% aperture area efficiency for a thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) cell that it has printed on flexible foil.

This printed PV cell utilizes copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) PV technology. Nanosolar notes that its printed flexible CIGS cells can utilize high-throughput roll-to-roll printing methods.

"This achievement demonstrates that a non-vacuum CIGS deposition process can deliver world-class efficiency," said Nanosolar CEO Geoff Tate. "At the same time, Nanosolar's unique roll-to-roll printing process delivers substantial manufacturing cost benefits."

Roll-to-roll manufacturing to lower costs

Nanosolar further states that roll-to-roll manufacturing can provide a path to lower production costs than the dominant process of deposition on a rigid substrate.

The highest efficiency thin-film PV cells recorded to date are in the range of 20.3%, and are comprised of CIGS deposited on a rigid substrate.

2011-10-06| Courtesy: Nanosolar Inc. | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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