Advanced CIS thin film photovoltaics

J. Palm, M. Fuerfanger, P. Mogensen, W. Stetter, H. Fischer and F. Karg

At AVANCIS and its predecessor Shell Solar we have scaled up over the course of the last decade a unique process for depositing thin film Copper Indium diSelenide (CIS) based solar cells on glass from 100 cm2 to >1m2 .The two-step rapid thermal annealing process for CIS formation at AVANCIS has demonstrated large area module efficiencies over 13% in pilot production and is the core technology of the first AVANCIS 20MW factory in Torgau in Germany.

In our paper, we set the context for thin film solar technology and discuss the benefits of CIS thin film PV. We outline the benefits of using industrially proven and reliable sputtering technology for layer deposition and show that decoupling this from the high temperature crystal growth step can lead to high module efficiencies and a robust industrially viable process.

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The Authors

Dr. Paul Mogensen Senior Manager AVANCIS Paul Mogensen obtained his Degree (1993) and PhD in Physics (1997) from the University of Wales.(Cardiff). He worked in Appiled Optics Research at Risoe National Lab (Denmark) from 1998 to 2001. Fr... Read more