Project seeks refinement of thin-film solar modules

Thin-film solar modules are seen as an alternative to traditional solar cells made of crystalline silicon. In the next three years, it is planned to produce a marketable prototype with an efficiency of 12 per cent.

The project, which has €9.3m (£7.7m) of EU funding, is coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich.

In recent years, various companies are said to have increased the efficiency of marketable thin-film solar modules to the present level of 10 per cent.

Although these modules are still not as efficient as conventional solar cells, they can be produced much more economically.

In the case of thin-film modules, the silicon is applied to the substrate in a layer about one micrometre thick and does not need to be carefully cut out from expensive wafers.

Thin-film silicon solar modules designed as tandem solar cells are said to be particularly efficient. They consist of two layers, one on top of the other, which absorb different fractions of sunlight.