Cigs Solar Panel Efficiency

Cigs based thin film solar modules represent a high efficiency alternative for large scale commercial solar modules.

Cigs solar panel efficiency.

Thin panel solar panels made with gallium arsenide are considered the most efficient of all thin panels with a high of 28 8 percent. The top honor was claimed by researchers at the national renewable energy laboratory nrel who have developed a new solar cell with an efficiency of 47 1 percent. The efficiency of the solar cells used in a photovoltaic system in combination with latitude and climate determines the annual energy output of the system for example a solar panel with 20 efficiency and an area of 1 m 2 will produce 200. With efficiencies exceeding 20 measured in the laboratory there may be a continuing place for high efficiency cigs panels in the general solar panel market.

Cigs cells also use the toxic chemical cadmium. Cigs offers the highest efficiency of thin film pv technologies cigs offers the highest energy yield at different light conditions cigs offers low environmental impact and sustainability flexible module materials offer low weight per area roof kg m2 and low weight per power generated kg w. However because of their cost they are typically used in building spacecrafts and other types of specialized applications where pv energy is required. Miasolé obtained a certified 15 7 aperture area efficiency on a 1m 2 production module and solar frontier claimed a 17 8 efficiency on a 900 cm 2 module.

That makes it the most efficient. In a manufacturing environment that means 15 percent to 16. For example cigs can be deposited on substrates such as glass metal foils and polymers. While it trails in efficiency cigs is not far away has shown a cigs solar cell that converts 19 5 percent of sunlight into electricity.

Unlike most thin film solar technologies cigs solar panels offer a potentially competitive efficiency to traditional silicon panels. In september 2012 the german manz ag presented a cigs solar module with an efficiency of 14 6 on total module surface and 15 9 on aperture which was produced on a mass production facility. In 2014 laboratory experiments produced a record efficiency of 23 2 percent by a cigs cell with a modified surface structure. However commercial cigs cells have lower efficiencies with most modules attaining about 14 percent conversion.

Cigs is a versatile material that can be fabricated by multiple processes and implemented in different form factors.