Title :
‘Ink-based’ CIGS solar cells on lightweight Titanium foil
Author :
Kapur, Vijay ; Bansal, Ashish ; Muntasser, Zeiad ; Haber, Joel ; Trivedi, Ashwin ; Guevarra, Dan ; Draganova, Dariya
Author_Institution :
Int. Solar Electr. Technol. Inc., Chatsworth, CA, USA
Abstract :
Fabrication of Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) solar cells on Ti foil using ISET´s ink-based process is challenging, because a high temperature annealing step in hydrogen ambient causes embrittlement of the Ti substrate. To ameliorate this situation, ISET has developed a proprietary process that encapsulates the Ti foil with a thin protective layer which enables the Ti foil to survive the ink-based cell fabrication process, without compromising its flexibility. Using this approach, ISET has achieved a champion cell efficiency of 11.7% (AM1.5). In addition, the insulating nature of this protective layer has enabled us to fabricate monolithically integrated modules on titanium substrate and potentially reduce the overall cost of manufacturing CIGS modules on flexible metal foil substrates.
Keywords :
copper compounds; gallium compounds; indium compounds; modules; semiconductor industry; solar cells; ternary semiconductors; CIGS modules; CuInGaSe2; Ti; encapsulation; flexible metal foil substrates; ink-based fabrication process; lightweight titanium foil; monolithically integrated modules; protective layer; solar cells; Annealing; Copper; Fabrication; Gallium compounds; Hydrogen; Indium; Photovoltaic cells; Protection; Temperature; Titanium;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2009 34th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Philadelphia, PA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2949-3
Electronic_ISBN :
0160-8371
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411296
