New record for flexible thin-film solar cells
Never before has such an efficient flexible CIGS solar cell been built. Empa researchers achieve an efficiency of 20.8% for the first time - breaking their own record. Empa
Flexible solar cell with unprecedented efficiency: The Empa Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, headed by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has broken its own record. The researchers improved the efficiency of energy conversion in CIGS solar cells on flexible polymer substrate to 20.8%.
This is 0.4% higher than the previous mark – which is held by the same group. The technology of choice is copper indium gallium diselenide (Cu(In,Ga)Se2) or CIGS, which enables the manufacture of flexible, lightweight solar cells on polymer films.
The technological achievements and scientific findings are described in the special issue “Excellence in Energy” of the journal “Advanced Energy Materials”.
Three measures for success
The new record is the result of a combination of three major improvements, explains Romain Carron, head of CIGS research at Empa's laboratory. “First, we have carefully adjusted the chemical composition of the absorber layer to improve its electronic and optical properties.
Then we developed new methods for alkali metal doping. And finally, we have adapted the properties of the absorber-buffer interface to improve cell performance.” In particular, Shiro Nishiwaki's meticulous work was essential to improve the performance of the cells, says Carron.
Flexible CIGS solar modules are already commercially available, in particular from the Empa spin-off Flisom, which was co-founded by Tiwari. “Such high efficiency as we have now achieved in our laboratory demonstrates the potential of the technology. Future developments will be aimed in particular at transferring our new process from laboratory to industrial scale in order to increase the power generation and profitability of photovoltaic systems,” says Tiwari.
Dr. Romain Carron
Thin Films and Photovoltaics
Phone +41 58 765 47 91
romain.carron@empa.ch
R Carron, S Nishiwaki, T Feurer, R Hertwig, E Avancini, J Löckinger, S‐C Yang, S Buecheler, A N Tiwari, Advanced Alkali Treatments for High‐Efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells on Flexible Substrates, Advanced Energy Materials, DOI 10.1002/aenm.201900408
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Power and Electrical Engineering
This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.
innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.
Newest articles
Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured
Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval,…
Ion thermoelectric conversion devices for near room temperature
The electrode sheet of the thermoelectric device consists of ionic hydrogel, which is sandwiched between the electrodes to form, and the Prussian blue on the electrode undergoes a redox reaction…
Zap Energy achieves 37-million-degree temperatures in a compact device
New publication reports record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device. In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated…
