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"Copper indium selenide" redirects here. Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) is a new semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium. The material is a solid solution of copper indium selenide (often abbreviated "CIS") and copper gallium selenide, with a chemical formula of CuInxGa(1-x)Se2, where the value of x can vary from 1 (pure copper indium selenide) to 0 (pure copper gallium selenide). It is a tetrahedrally-bonded semiconductor, with the chalcopyrite crystal structure, and a bandgap varying continuously with x from about 1.0eV (for copper indium selenide) to about 1.7eV (for copper gallium selenide)
[edit] CIGS PV cellsCIGS is mainly used in photovoltaic cells (CIGS cells), in the form of polycrystalline thin films. Unlike the silicon cells based on a homojunction p-n junction, the structure of CIGS is a more complex heterojunction system. The best efficiency achieved as of December 2005 was 19.5% reported by Contreras et al [1]. Just recently the team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory achieved 19.9% new world record efficiency by modifying the CIGS surface and making it look like CIS[2]. . This idea was first introduced by Dr. Jehad AbuShama in the IEEE conference in 2005[3]. The 19.9% efficiency is by far the highest compared with those achieved by other thin film technologies such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) or amorphous silicon (a-Si). [4]. CIGS, like almost every other solar-cell device, shows a higher efficiency under concentrating lenses or mirrors. As for CIS, and CGS solar cells, Dr. Jehad AbuShama reported the world record total area efficiencies of 15.0% and 10.2% respectively. [5] CIGS solar cells are not as efficient as crystalline silicon solar cells, for which the record efficiency lies at 24.7%[6], but they are expected to be substantially cheaper. CIGS can be printed directly onto molybdenum coated glass sheets. Solar cells made from crystalline silicon are made of slices of solid silicon and require therefore more expensive semiconductor material. CIGS films can be manufactured by several different methods. The most common vacuum-based process co-evaporates or co-sputters copper, gallium, and indium, then anneals the resulting film with a selenide vapor to form the final CIGS structure. A non-vacuum-based alternative process deposits nanoparticles of the precursor materials on the substrate and then sinters them in situ. [edit] CompaniesSome companies working with CIGS-CIS cells include:
[edit] SalesGlobal Solar Energy, Inc. sells portable, flexible solar panels made with thin film CIGS cells[8]. Honda Soltec Co., Ltd., located in Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto is going to begin sales throughout Japan of CIGS cells for public and industrial use on October 24, 2008[9] . [edit] See also
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