Date: 29/10/2010

Moser Baer to develop Copper Indium Gallium Selenide semiconductor based solar cells

Moser Baer India (MBI) has been awarded a grant by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to develop Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) solar cells. MBI to conduct the development work from the Corporate R&D facility at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.. The focus of this R&D project is to develop a differentiated, indigenous, commercially viable technology based on core competencies of Moser Baer.

Speaking about the grant and the R&D initiative Dr. G. Rajeswaran, Group Chief Technology Officer, MBI said "Using leading edge technologies and high volume manufacturing, Moser Baer India has consistently delivered world-class, high quality products at an affordable price to the market. Through Moser Baer Solar, a subsidiary of MBI, we have a wealth of experiences in crystalline silicon, thin film silicon and concentrator PV and PV Systems businesses. This project supported by MNRE will utilize the core competencies of the Moser Baer Group and its vast resources to deliver high efficiency CIGS solar cells, a promising next frontier in affordable thin film PV technologies. Our aim is to address the gap between large scale efficiencies (11-14%) and lab level efficiencies (19-20%) of CIGS technology. We have a team of competent scientists in India and have provided them world-class facilities to compete with the best in the world. The support of MNRE through this grant in fostering industrial R&D in India is a great step forward."

What is CIGS Technology?

1. Copper indium gallium di-selenide (CIGS), is a compound semiconductor material used as main functional (absorber) layer in CIGS solar cells. This is a solid solution of copper indium selenide (often abbreviated CIS) and copper gallium selenide (CGS) and crystallizes in chalcopyrite structure.
2. Its tunable band gap from 1.0 eV (for CIS) to 1.7 eV (for CGS) with varying x, and high absorption coefficient enables optimum utilization of solar radiation with less thickness (1-2 microns).
3. CIGS based solar cells have shown 20.3 % efficiency at lab scale which is best among all thin film technologies.
4. Through our new innovative process we are working to develop the CIGS solar cells similar to the size of a typical crystalline silicon solar cell and thus avoiding the scale up issues.
5. MBI plan to achieve cells with efficiencies >= 15% along with benchmark yield.
6. MBI's initial estimate suggests that it is possible to achieve module price of << $1/Wp