Nanosolar has developed CIGS solar cells from copper indium gallium diselenide (CuInGaSe2). In this semiconductor material, the nanoparticles are inside a specially designed solar ink that is printed out on rolls made out of cheap aluminum foil (instead of glass substrate). Nanosolar was established in 2002. After a quiet period of 7 years of...
Researchers from the University of California – specifically from the Henry Samuel School of Engineering and Applied Science – have recently discovered a new and relatively simple technique for solar cells manufacturing. Their inexpensive solution is to use a unique method of solar cells fabrication based on copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) technology. While te conventional methods...
A solar cell is the basic element of solar photovoltaics. It is built out of semiconductor material, and usually its surface area is no greater than 10×10 cm. Its surface color is usually black or dark, for obvious reasons, that is, to reflect as little of the solar energy as possible. When exposed to...
Every solar cell is based on a very fundamental physical principle which involves interaction between light and electrons. The light (or photons – small packages of light energy) is of course coming from the Sun, and the electrons are present in the material out of which the solar cell is built. The photons come...