Thin film technology will bring a huge blow to the crystalline silicon industry
From the current development of photovoltaic technology, thin film, especially CIGS film will gradually become the mainstream of solar power generation.
Thin-film solar cells are new types of photovoltaic devices that may alleviate the energy crisis. Thin-film solar cells can be fabricated on substrates using inexpensive materials such as ceramics, graphite, and metal sheets. The thickness of the film that can generate voltage is only a few μm, and the current conversion efficiency can reach up to 13%. In addition to the flat surface, the thin-film battery solar cell can also be made into a non-planar structure because of its flexibility, and its application range is large, and it can be combined with a building or become a part of a building body, and is widely used. The full name of CIGS is CuInxGa(1-x)Se2 thin film cell. It is mainly composed of Cu (copper), In (indium), Ga (gallium), and Se (selenium). It has strong light absorption capability, good power generation stability, and conversion. High efficiency, long power generation time during the day, high power generation, low production cost and short energy recovery cycle.
Why would thin film technology win over the traditional crystalline silicon products? The key is that the absolute power generation of thin film is higher, with the average power generation about 8-10% higher (depending on the location and climate of the power station) than crystalline silicon. In addition, the attenuation rate of CIGS thin film power generation is controllable, which means that by taking effective technical means, it is possible to control the occurrence of power generation attenuation. It has been proved that during the operation of the CIGS film station, the power generation is not attenuated but slightly increased.
Although the crystalline silicon industry has matured and the conversion efficiency of single crystal silicon is high, the short technology has restricted the sustainable development of the crystalline silicon industry. Moreover, its industrial chain is long and the cost is difficult to control, so crystalline silicon products are not competitive. From this point of view, the development of thin film technology, especially CIGS film, will get better and better.
Stanford Advanced Materials (SAM) is a global sputtering targets manufacturers which supplies high-quality and consistent products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. e provide high purity CIGS materials and we insure you will be satisfied with our products. Please visit our website https://www.sputtertargets.net/ for more information.
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