Avancis achieves record efficiency from CIGS module
Avancis, a German manufacturer of CIGS solar modules, has achieved a record efficiency of 17.9 percent for encapsulated CIGS thin-film modules. This was for a Cd-free encapsulated module showing an aperture area of 622 cm2, certified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).
"This achievement is not just another world record for CIGS solar modules, it generally shows the unbroken dynamics of thin-film development", explains Jörg Palm, CTO of Avancis. "Transferring that result into production would lead to CIGS modules with the impressive power of 170 Wp on a PowerMax product size of 1m2."
According to Palm, this places the modules in efficiency ranges previously restricted to poly-silicon based products. "Our products are therefore increasingly eligible for area constraint installations, which have been previously dominated by conventional silicon modules."
The 30 x 30 cm2 champion module is based on a mass-produced CIGS absorber from the Avancis production plant in Torgau and completed with refined window and module process steps by the research and development center in Munich.
The optimized indium-based buffer is deposited in an environmentally benign manner and with enhanced material yield by a completely dry vacuum coating processes. The improvement in efficiency was achieved by a modified design with reduced cell width, optimized ZnO: Al front contact and through the improved application of laser processes to reduce the dead zone between the series-connected cells.
This best performance of Avancis is based on intensive research and development work of the CIGS pioneer with its own pilot line, production sites in Germany and South Korea. The last certified aperture efficiency of 16.6 percent of the Champion module has been certified by NREL in January, 2014.
