Nanosolar, another Silicon Valley CIGS thin film maker, went through a few CEOs in recent years and managed to raise more money to keep going.
FORBES: SoloPower To Start Flexible Thin Film Solar Production in Oregon
But Dr Bruel found that if a hydrogen-treated wafer is first fused to another wafer that has been given a glass coating, the force of the gas bubbles will instead cause a thin silicon film to peel off the one and on to the other.
If crystalline silicon or other thin-film technologies compete with cadmium telluride on costs, buyers might opt to avoid First Solar's toxicity.
Instead of traditional crystalline silicon solar panels, it will be using thin film solar, which uses elements other than silicon.
FORBES: Wal-Mart Taps SolarCity, Miasole and FirstSolar For Power On 20 Stores
The panels are various new thin-film technologies that Chevron thinks could cost less than current thin film technologies or traditional crystalline silicon solar cells.
As a result, silicon solar panels are not much more expensive than thin film solar panels these days.
FORBES: First Solar Struggles Amid Decline Of Thin-Film Solar Market
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.
FORBES: Nanosolar Snares a Gigawatt in Orders for its Thin-Film Solar Panels
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
First Solar makes the most efficient thin film panels, SunPower makes the most efficient crystalline silicon panels.
The prospect of getting a piece of that growth has fueled the stocks of companies such as Sunpower, the leader in producing traditional silicon solar-power panels, and First Solar, whose thin-film solar panels are cheaper to manufacture but are less efficient.
While thin-film solar panels have lower efficiencies than conventional crystalline silicon panels like those found on residential rooftops, they could be produced at a cheaper cost, especially when silicon prices rise.
FORBES: GE Halts Work On The U.S.'s Biggest Solar Factory To Return To The Lab
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.
Suntech Power is currently pursuing thin film technology, a low cost PV technology that involves depositing several thin layers of silicon or more complex materials on a substrate such as glass to make a PV cell.
The three main types of thin film technologies use cadmium-telluride, copper-indium-gallium-selenide and amorphous-silicon to convert sunlight into electricity.
FORBES: First Solar Struggles Amid Decline Of Thin-Film Solar Market
应用推荐