The Swiss Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) didn’t just break the old thin film efficiency record by a small amount. Their new CIGS thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils smashed the old record of 18.7% by hitting a 20.4% efficiency rate. The team achieved the … Continue reading
Tag Archives: thin film solar cells
New peel and stick solar cells decals can stick to phones, windows, pretty much anything
Researchers at Stanford University have come up with a new process that creates peel and stick solar cells. The new cells are thin and flexible, and by using double sided tape, they can be used on things like phones, windows, paper, and clothes. As the research team lead, Xiaolin Zheng, … Continue reading
Nanosolar aiming to reach grid parity by 2015
Nanosolar, maker of thin-film CIGS solar cells, is predicting that it will hit full grid parity by 2015. Grid parity means that the electricity provided by Nanosolar will be cheap as grid supplied power, without the need for tax breaks. In 2006, Nanosolar received a $42 million grant from … Continue reading
First Solar hits record for thin-film solar efficiency
First Solar Inc (FSLR) has hit another efficiency record for its thin film solar cells, and has announced that they will incorporate the new methods into their manufacturing process starting next quarter. First Solar will use their efficiency gain to compete against cost reductions by Chinese solar companies. … Continue reading
Nanosolar announces big orders for its thin film solar cells
Nanosolar solar cells Nanosolar this week announced some pretty sizeable orders for its thin film solar cells and also said that they expect to match solar industry cost leaders within a few years. Their new orders could be for as much as 1 gigawatt of solar panels over … Continue reading
GE to build largest US thin film solar panel manufacturing plant
General Electric came out with several solar power related announcements this week. They’ve acquired PrimeStar Solar (a company they’ve been working with to develop cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film solar cells), achieved an NREL confirmed record 12.8% efficiency on its CdTe panels, and announced that they will be building a … Continue reading
Nanosolar announces $4.1 billion in contracts, boosts efficiency, starts
Nanosolar came out with flurry of announcements today, after months and months of quiet time for the company. And the announcements were pretty big – Nanosolar’s thin film CIGS solar cells have hit 16.4% efficiency (verified by the DoE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory), which is currently the highest efficiency … Continue reading
Sharp Solar soon to bring thin film solar cell to US
Sharp Corp., already one of the world’s largest producers of silicon solar cells, recently announced that they would be bringing next generation thin film solar cells to the US market in August 2009. The Sharp thin film modules are made with less than 1 percent of the amount of … Continue reading