MiaSolé Acheives Flexible Substrate Solar Cell Efficiency of 20.56%

MiaSolé has announced that the U.S. DOE’s NREL has independently confirmed a 20.56 percent cell efficiency for a flexible thin-film solar cell

MiaSolé, the US-based subsidiary of Hanergy, has announced that the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has independently confirmed a 20.56 percent cell efficiency for a flexible thin-film device (0.86cm2) deposited on a stainless steel foil. Setting a new internal record for MiaSolé, for its (CIGS) thin-film solar technology.

The films deposited for this cell were produced directly from the MiaSolé Roll Coater production line in Santa Clara, California using an advanced process that incorporates multiple breakthroughs for delivering select alkali elements as well as precise compositional control of the Ag-alloyed CIGS absorber. The processes that enabled this high-efficiency device are directly transferable to high volume manufacturing.

“Our innovative continuous deposition system enables us to rewrite the process development playbook. By experimenting at the manufacturing scale, we can bring high-efficiency thin-film solar cells into production at a faster rate,” said Dr. Neil Mackie Senior Director of Process Development at MiaSolé. “Seamless integration of manufacturing methods into advanced process development is already enabling the next generation of high efficiency and high-reliability thin-film solar products from MiaSolé.”

The firms’ proprietary technology enables high throughput manufacturing with high-performance cells to create lightweight, flexible solar modules for unlimited applications in the building, transportation, and portable solar markets.

Recently, the firm also announced that the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE had independently confirmed a 17.44 percent aperture area efficiency on a commercial size flexible PV module (aperture area 1.08m 2 ). This achievement was recognized as a new certified record large-area CIGS module in the latest Progress in Photovoltaics compendium of PV records.

Recently, Hanergy announced that it has completed the installation of what it’s claiming is the biggest Photovoltaic (PV) glass curtain wall project on a single building in China.