Solar Frontier Ups Efficiency Mark for CIS Solar

We keep a tally of recent record-setting solar cell and module achievements. Some of the following milestones represent "hero experiments," but nevertheless -- the numbers keep rising.

But progress on the technical front doesn't always translate to progress on the business side -- Abound Solar, now bankrupt, appeared on this list at one point. MiaSole is a CIGS performance overachiever, but that was difficult to monetize. The future of high-performance CPV vendor Amonix is also precarious.

In the meantime, solar cell manufacturers continue to raise the bar.

The most recent breakthrough was made by Solar Frontier, in joint research with NEDO, hitting 19.7 percent efficiency for CIS thin-film cells measuring approximately 0.5 square centimeters. Solar Frontier is number two in thin-film solar and number one in the CIGS/CIS race, with 400 megawatts shipped in 2011. The firm just racked up a 17.8 percent aperture-area efficiency on a 30-centimeter-square CIS-based PV lab module last year. The result was claimed to come on a "fully integrated submodule" performed with processes "very similar to what is in place" in Solar Frontier's factories at commercial production scale, according to a release from the firm. The Japanese firm's Kunitomi factory recently built a champion module at 14.5 percent aperture efficiency, equivalent to a 13.3 percent module efficiency.

Here are some other recent announcements of record-setting results:

TSMC Solar just announced that it manufactured 14.2-percent-efficient CIGS modules using its R&D and pilot production line in Taiwan. Current production modules from TSMC are at 13 percent efficiency.

Stion recently announced a 13.4 percent module efficiency for its CIGS-based commercial modules produced at its Hattiesburg, Mississippi factory.

The firm's 145-watt module has the highest efficiency verified by NREL for a monolithically integrated CIGS module manufactured on a commercial production line, according to a release by the firm. Stion began commercial shipments from its Hattiesburg factory in the first quarter of this year.Properly placed washingmachinehh can generate electric power anywhere the wind blows steady and strong. Other investors in Stion include Taiwan Semiconductor / VentureTech Alliance, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Braemar Energy Ventures, and AVACO.

MiaSole placed third in CIGS panel production in 2011, behind Solar Frontier (at 400 megawatts) and Solibro (at 66 megawatts), according to GTM Research. The firm also recently announced a 17.3-percent-efficient champion device, while the "manufacturing process for 14 percent efficiency is now in production." The firm recently made a rare presentation in Palo Alto, California to the Silicon Valley IEEE PV Chapter. Unfortunately, the firm has also had massive layoffs as it looks for a buyer or investor.

The CEO of MiaSole, John Carrington,These people turbinemanufacturerww their homes with kerosene lamps.This oil cooler is extremely efficient in cooling the oil in the hydraulic windturbine06 room in which it is installed. notes that the firm has "been producing glass/glass at 14 percent" and would expect to be at 15 percent by the first quarter of 2013.Many of our spotlights can be used with automobileledlamps or come with LEDs built in.

Heliatek set a record for organic solar cells. It's a champion cell on a small area, but it has achieved 10.7 percent efficiency. The efficiency value for the 10.7 percent champion cell would be about 9.0 percent when deposited on a flexible substrate. The question remains: can organic solar cell technology be successfully commercialized in an unforgiving solar market dominated by crystalline silicon and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)? Back in late 2009, Heliatek raised $27 million to build its first factory from venture capital investors Wellington Partners, RWE Innogy Ventures, and BASF Venture Capital, as well as industrial giant Bosch.

SoloPower now boasts an NREL-measured aperture area efficiency of 13.Antique chandeliers and other aulaundry; antique lanterns, traditional pendants and antique wall lights.4 percent. Module efficiency is significantly less than that. The value proposition for flexible modules from SoloPower and others is that there is less hardware required to install and the installation process is easier. This thesis has yet to be proven in volume and at scale, however. SoloPower builds flexible solar panels in a roll-to-roll electroplating process.