While c-Si cell efficiencies steal headlines, CIGS developers are continuing to introduce new concepts onto the market. In the latest development Flisom will ramp a 15 MW flexible CIGS line, in the Zurich area.
Flisom raised the funds, for what will be a commercial application of an R&D line, from an unnamed Swiss investor and from Indian industrial giant Tata. Flisom itself is a spin off from the Laboratory of Solid State Physics of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).
The startup CIGS developer is now based at the Empa campus, which is the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology. In todays announcement Flisom has also highlighted a collaborative agreement it has signed with EMPA to further develop the flexible CIGS technology. As a part of the deal, Empas thin film laboratory head Ayodhya N. Tiwari will work with Flisom on a part time basis.
Empa itself has been a leader in flexible CIGS technology, having announced a conversion efficiency of 20.4%, for a flexible CIGS cell in January of this year. Empa has confirmed with pv magazine that, unlike the photo provided by the laboratory, the cell in question was a micro cell – roughly half a square centimeter is size. Empa first efficiency record for a flexible CIGS cell was 12.8% in 1999.
In a statement announcing the Flisom funding round, K.R.S. Jamwal, Executive Director, Tata Industries said: "We admire the team and technology, based on a record setting efficiency of over 20% for CIGS from Empa, which we hope will be scaled up successfully. The funding will enable Flisom to purchase equipment and hire more experts to convert an innovative Swiss technology into an industrial reality."
Flisom CEO Marc Kaelin added that the fab will allow for the application of laboratory processes into production. "The 15MW plant will serve as a blueprint towards the establishment of larger-scale plants to manufacture flexible solar modules at low cost."
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.