From 18th to 22th September AVANCIS will be represented at the 40^th EUPVSEC by colleagues from our research & development team. The new results they will present demonstrate that CIGS can keep up very well with the established silicon technology.

Marko Stölzel, Manager New Processes III, presents on Thursday 21.9. the newest development of our CIGSSe absorber that enabled the new world record of 20.3 % efficiency earlier this year. The absorber transforms incoming light into electric current. It absorbs the photons, that make up the light. Thanks to a new composition and distribution of the elements that our absorber is made of, this transformation is now more efficient. With this world record of more than 20% efficiency thin film technology has now reached efficiency levels of silicon technology.

How the power of our modules is influenced by shading scenarios and how this compares to the power loss of silicon modules, will be presented by Janina Moereke, Development Engineer, also on Thursday. While efficiencies are measured under standard test conditions, the irradiation in a real system will vary with the position of the Sun, but also with possible shading from adjacent buildings and plants. For some geometries of partial shading our CIGS modules even showed lower power loss than the tested silicon modules.

We are looking forward to exchange with other photovoltaic experts, discover new findings by research institutes and industrial partners and gain further inspiration for our development of CIGS technology for new applications.