CIGS PV’s efficiency ratings rising fast
The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) has nudged up the performance bar for thin-film solar cells yet another notch. The Stuttgart-based scientists achieved 22.6 percent efficiency with their latest advance, topping the performance of a Japanese-made cell by 0.3 percentage points and bringing the world record back home to ZSW for the fifth time. And the pace of advances is picking up as recent strides in cell performance show: The efficiency of thin-film solar cells based on copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) has increased more in the last 3 years than in the previous 15. As efficiency goes up, the cost of solar power comes down.
I–V curve of the most current PDT-treated CIGS solar cell with an efficiency of 22.6%* (*certified by Fraunhofer ISE).
Link to article in physica status solidi (RRL) – Rapid Research Letters.
The text is kindly provided by ZSW.
