Solar CIS, which stands for copper, indium and selenium, are solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that leverage the latest developments in thin-film technology.
In the lab Cigs has a maximum solar conversion efficiency of 20.2%, better than the 16.5% of a thin-film technology that kicks the pants off the traditional crystalline silicon panels on price per watt of capacity.
Applied Materials (nasdaq: AMAT - news - people ), are working to improve another thin-film technology that is extremely cheap but so inefficient it can't yet match First Solar in cost per kwh.
Nanosolar is one of several Silicon Valley startups that have attracted billions of dollars in venture capital to develop a thin-film technology called copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS. Such solar cells use little expensive silicon, the main ingredient of conventional photovoltaic cells.
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In a statement, the Solyndra said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while exploring a sale of the business or licensing its thin-film photovoltaic technology.
FORBES: What Solyndra's Bankruptcy Means For Silicon Valley Solar Startups
Rather, it's a reflective display that uses a PNLC (Polymer Networked Liquid Crystal) module for improved brightness, and HR-TFT (high-reflective thin film transistor) technology to add contrast.
In the 1990s, they combined thin-film coating techniques with getter technology for the LHC and that paved the way for the solar panel applications we see today at the Geneva International Airport.
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The first phase of the solar mission stipulated that solar farm operators using silicon wafers should only buy made-in-India versions of this equipment but allowed them to import other forms of technology, including thin-film cells.
Today, Intermolecular announced an ongoing project with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia for the enhancement of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin film solar manufacturing technology.
FORBES: Intermolecular's Solar Strategy Rising During Industry Eclipse
Thin film technology refers to the use of non-silicon materials to convert sunlight into electricity.
FORBES: First Solar Struggles Amid Decline Of Thin-Film Solar Market
And the Energy Conversion exec adds that the company is working on new technology that should improve the conversion efficiency of its thin-film solar products.
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