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Development of CIGS2 Thin Films on Ultralightweight Flexible Large Area Foil SunstratesThe development of thin film solar cells is aimed at reducing the costs for photovoltaic systems. Use of thin film technology and thin foil substrate such as 5-mil thick stainless steel foil or 1-mil thick Ti would result in considerable costs savings. Another important aspect is manufacturing cost. Current single crystal technology for space power can cost more than $ 300 per watt at the array level and weigh more than 1 kg/sq m equivalent to specific power of approx. 65 W/kg. Thin film material such as CuIn1-xGaxS2 (CIGS2), CuIn(1-x)Ga(x)Se(2-y)S(y) (CIGSS) or amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) may be able to reduce both the cost and mass per unit area by an order of magnitude. Manufacturing costs for solar arrays are an important consideration for total spacecraft budget. For a medium sized 5kW satellite for example, the array manufacturing cost alone may exceed $ 2 million. Moving to thin film technology could reduce this expense to less than $ 500K. Earlier publications have demonstrated the potential of achieving higher efficiencies from CIGSS thin film solar cells on 5-mil thick stainless steel foil as well as initial stages of facility augmentation for depositing thin film solar cells on larger (6 in x 4 in) substrates. This paper presents the developmental study of achieving stress free Mo coating; uniform coatings of Mo back contact and metallic precursors. The paper also presents the development of sol gel process, refurbishment of selenization/sulfurization furnace, chemical bath deposition (CBD) for n-type CdS and scrubber for detoxification of H2S and H2Se gases.
Document ID
20050206370
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Dhere, Neelkanth G.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Gade, Vivek S.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Kadam, Ankur A.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Jahagirdar, Anant H.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Kulkarni, Sachin S.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Bet, Sachin M.
(Florida Solar Energy Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 2005
Publication Information
Publication: 18th Space Photovoltaic Research and Technology Conference
Subject Category
Metals And Metallic Materials
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NCC3-712
CONTRACT_GRANT: NREL-NDJ-2-30630-03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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