Speeding up CIGS solar cell manufacture

The funding will go towards optimising a co-evaporation process at PVcomB used for producing CIGS layers for thin-film solar cells. Photo: HZB

The funding will go towards optimising a co-evaporation process at PVcomB used for producing CIGS layers for thin-film solar cells. Photo: HZB

The CIGS thin film photovoltaics <span>can be integrated pleasingly into building architectures. Photo: </span>Manz AG

The CIGS thin film photovoltaics can be integrated pleasingly into building architectures. Photo: Manz AG

Speeding up CIGS solar cell manufacture

A project consortium from research and industry involving the Competence Centre for Photovoltaics Berlin (PVcomB) of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has been granted a major third-party-funded project by the Federal Ministry of Economics. The project “speedCIGS” is to be funded with 4.7 million euros over four years, of which 1.7 million goes to HZB. The project partners will use this money to accelerate the manufacturing process for CIGS thin-film solar cells and thus make the technology more attractive to industry.

The speedCIGS project is being carried in cooperation with systems builder Manz AG, the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), the Universities of Jena and Paderborn, the Max Planck Institute Dresden and the Wilhelm Büchner Hochschule (as project coordinator).

The acquired funding will go towards optimising a co-evaporation process at PVcomB used for producing CIGS layers for thin-film solar cells. CIGS solar cells get their name from their constituent elements Copper, Indium, Gallium and Selenium. The elements are deposited together in a vacuum onto a heated substrate to form a thin layer of the desired compound. The manufacturing process used at PVcomB is already being used industrially, but is still relatively slow. The process is now to be sped up within the speedCIGS project, so that more modules can be produced per unit time for the same investment costs. This would make the production of CIGS solar modules much cheaper, giving the technology a competitive advantage in the currently tense market situation.

Also to be developed at PVcomB is a transparent p-conducting material that will go a long way towards developing high-efficiency tandem solar cells based on CIGS.

Polycrystalline CIGS solar cells already stand out for their high efficiency and high energy yields. Another advantage is the aesthetic appearance of the modules, which integrate pleasingly into building architectures.

(sz/il)

  • Copy link

You might also be interested in

  • Metallic nanocatalysts: what really happens during catalysis
    Science Highlight
    10.09.2025
    Metallic nanocatalysts: what really happens during catalysis
    Using a combination of spectromicroscopy at BESSY II and microscopic analyses at DESY's NanoLab, a team has gained new insights into the chemical behaviour of nanocatalysts during catalysis. The nanoparticles consisted of a platinum core with a rhodium shell. This configuration allows a better understanding of structural changes in, for example, rhodium-platinum catalysts for emission control. The results show that under typical catalytic conditions, some of the rhodium in the shell can diffuse into the interior of the nanoparticles. However, most of it remains on the surface and oxidises. This process is strongly dependent on the surface orientation of the nanoparticle facets.
  • KlarText Prize for Hanna Trzesniowski
    News
    08.09.2025
    KlarText Prize for Hanna Trzesniowski
    The chemist has been awarded the prestigious KlarText Prize for Science Communication by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.
  • Shedding light on insulators: how light pulses unfreeze electrons
    Science Highlight
    08.09.2025
    Shedding light on insulators: how light pulses unfreeze electrons
    Metal oxides are abundant in nature and central to technologies such as photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Yet, many suffer from poor electrical conduction, caused by strong repulsion between electrons in neighboring metal atoms. Researchers at HZB and partner institutions have shown that light pulses can temporarily weaken these repulsive forces, lowering the energy required for electrons mobility, inducing a metal-like behavior. This discovery offers a new way to manipulate material properties with light, with high potential to more efficient light-based devices.