Photovoltaics

// Boosting the Performance of Highly Efficient Thin-Film Solar Cells

Lab plant for depositing the CIGS layer in a coevaporation process. (photo: ZSW / Alexander Fischer)

Lab plant for depositing the CIGS layer in a coevaporation process. (photo: ZSW / Alexander Fischer)

Top image depicts measured grain structure of ZSW's highly efficient CIGS solar cell, with colors indicating the grains’ different crystallographic orientations. Bottom image shows two-dimensional simulation based on these measurements.

Top image depicts measured grain structure of ZSW's highly efficient CIGS solar cell, with colors indicating the grains’ different crystallographic orientations. Bottom image shows two-dimensional simulation based on these measurements. Artwork: ZSW, based on illustr. in cited Nature Comm. paper

Research team pinpoints potential for improving CIGS solar cells

The efficiency of today’s thin-film solar cells with the compound semiconductor made of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) has already topped the 23 percent mark, but now a further increase looks to be within reach. A team staffed with researchers from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) recently identified a key point where the performance of thin-film solar cells can be improved for the cell to convert more sunlight into electricity. Published in the renowned science journal Nature Communications in August 2020, the results of this investigation reveal how manufacturers of CIGS thin-film solar cells can achieve even higher efficiencies.

For the complete press release, please refer to the PDF file under "Downloads".

 

Related Files

Related Links

This Website uses cookies and third-party content

On this website, we use cookies which are absolutely necessary for displaying its content. If you click on “Accept cookies chosen”, only these necessary cookies are used. Other cookies and content by third parties (such as YouTube videos or maps by Google Maps) are only set with your consent by choosing “Accept all cookies”. For further information, please refer to our data protection policy where you can withdraw your consent at any time.

Legal Information

Privacy Policy

learn more

Without necessary cookies, this website will not work properly. These cookies help to ensure basic functions such as navigating the pages and accessing protected parts of the website.


The cookie box saves information about which cookies you have activated.

learn more

We use tracking technologies for marketing purposes. To this end, we also use third party agents who use may use – across devices – cookies, fingerprints, tracking pixel and IP addresses. On our site, we also embed third-party content by other suppliers (e.g. social plug-ins, geographical map services). We cannot influence data processing and tracking by such third parties. Should you activate third-party content, on loading the respective page, such content is loaded from the web servers of third paty suppliers and data which are necessary for technical purposes for loading this content. Should this third-party content contain cookies, these will also be set. We try to implement such content in a way that uses data efficiently. In this context, we use service providers in third countries outside the EU without appropriate data protection policies. This carries the following risks: Access by authorities without information, no rights for the persons concerned, no remedies, loss of control.


We have embedded services by YouTube


We use map services provided by Google (Google Maps)


We use Matoma for visitor tracking.

Accept selection Accept all Decline all