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Flisom
Flisom is a developer and manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) thin film solar cells, located near Zurich, Switzerland. The company produces high-efficiency CIGS thin film solar modules on flexible plastic foil using proprietary roll-to-roll manufacturing techniques. The innovative manufacturing technology enables price competition with established c-si PV manufacturing systems at a comparatively smaller production scale. Furthermore, the lightweight, flexible, jet-black and thin solar panels potentially can bring down the overall costs for fully installed solar PV systems. This is about half the cost of conventional PV technology based on crystalline silicon. Potential applications for flexible lightweight CIGS modules include building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), applied photovoltaics (BAPV), as well as customized solar panels for Transportation & Mobility and portable rollable power systems. History Flisom AG was founded in 2005 as a spin-off company of ETH Zurich, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copper Indium Gallium Selenide Solar Cells
A copper indium gallium selenide solar cell (or CIGS cell, sometimes CI(G)S or CIS cell) is a thin-film solar cell used to convert sunlight into electric power. It is manufactured by depositing a thin layer of copper indium gallium selenide solution on glass or plastic backing, along with electrodes on the front and back to collect current. Because the material has a high absorption coefficient and strongly absorbs sunlight, a much thinner film is required than of other semiconductor materials. CIGS is one of three mainstream thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies, the other two being cadmium telluride and amorphous silicon. Like these materials, CIGS layers are thin enough to be flexible, allowing them to be deposited on flexible substrates. However, as all of these technologies normally use high-temperature deposition techniques, the best performance normally comes from cells deposited on glass, even though advances in low-temperature deposition of CIGS cells have erased much o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of CIGS Companies
This list of notable companies manufacturing copper indium gallium selenide solar cells (CIGS) includes a number of companies, some of which have significantly reduced or completely closed down production: * Ascent Solar Technologies * Avancis (former subsidiary of Saint Gobain) * Flisom (founded in 2005 as a spin-off company of ETH Zürich, Switzerland) * Manz (turnkey CIGS fab) * Midsummer AB (Swedish manufacturer of CIGS solar modules and sputtering equipment for thin-film solar cells) * Siva Power * Solar Frontier (subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu) Former companies or no longer produce CIGS modules * IBM * International Solar Electric Technology * Global Solar Energy (module producer, US-based subsidiary of Hanergy) * GSHK Solar (module producer, HK-based) * Hanergy-Solibro (former subsidiary of Q-Cells) * HelioVolt * Miasolé * Nanosolar * Odersun * Soltecture (previously Sulfurcell) * Solyndra * Stion * TSMC Solar (subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aktiengesellschaft
(; abbreviated AG, ) is a German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e. one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a ''S.A. (corporation), société anonyme'' or a ''società per azioni''), and South Tyrol for companies incorporated there. It is also used in Luxembourg (as lb, Aktiëgesellschaft, label=none, ), although the equivalent French language term ''S.A. (corporation), société anonyme'' is more common. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent term is public limited company, "PLC" and in the United States while the terms Incorporation (business), "incorporated" or "corporation" are typically used, technically the more precise equivalent term is "joint-stock company" (though note for the British term only a minority of public limited companies have their shares listed on stock exchanges). Meaning of the word The German w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evaporation (deposition)
Evaporation is a common method of thin-film deposition. The source material is evaporated in a vacuum. The vacuum allows vapor particles to travel directly to the target object (substrate), where they condense back to a solid state. Evaporation is used in microfabrication, and to make macro-scale products such as metallized plastic film. Physical principle Evaporation involves two basic processes: a hot source material evaporates and condenses on the substrate. It resembles the familiar process by which liquid water appears on the lid of a boiling pot. However, the gaseous environment and heat source (see "Equipment" below) are different. Evaporation takes place in a vacuum, i.e. vapors other than the source material are almost entirely removed before the process begins. In high vacuum (with a long mean free path), evaporated particles can travel directly to the deposition target without colliding with the background gas. (By contrast, in the boiling pot example, the water v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thin-film Cell Manufacturers
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many applications. A familiar example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of silvering was once commonly used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques such as sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century have enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs in areas such as magnetic recording media, electronic semiconductor devices, integrated passive devices, LEDs, optical coatings (such as antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting tools, and for both energy generation (e.g. thin-film solar cells) and storage ( thin-film batteries). It is also being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Federal Laboratories For Materials Science And Technology
The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa, German acronym for ''Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt'') is an interdisciplinary Swiss research institute for applied materials sciences and technology. As part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, it is an institution of the Swiss federation. For most of the period since its foundation in 1880, it concentrated on classical materials testing. Since the late 1980s it has developed into a modern research and development institute. Research According to its vision – Materials and technologies for a sustainable future – Empa aims at developing solutions for current problems facing industry and society in areas such as energy, the environment, mobility, health and safety. Research is concentrated in five Research Focus Areas: "Nanostructured Materials," "Sustainable Built Environment," "Health and Performance," "Natural Resources and Pollutants," and "Energy". Em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thin Film Solar Cell
A thin-film solar cell is a second generation solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers, or thin film (TF) of photovoltaic material on a substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal. Thin-film solar cells are commercially used in several technologies, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and amorphous thin-film silicon (a-Si, TF-Si). Film thickness varies from a few nanometers ( nm) to tens of micrometers ( µm), much thinner than thin-film's rival technology, the conventional, first-generation crystalline silicon solar cell (c-Si), that uses wafers of up to 200 µm thick. This allows thin film cells to be flexible, and lower in weight. It is used in building-integrated photovoltaics and as semi-transparent, photovoltaic glazing material that can be laminated onto windows. Other commercial applications use rigid thin film solar panels (interleaved between two panes of glass) in some of the world's largest photovol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solar Frontier
Solar Frontier Kabushiki Kaisha is a Japanese photovoltaic company that develops and manufactures thin film solar cells using Copper indium gallium selenide solar cells, CIGS technology. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu and located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded in 2006 as Showa Shell Solar, and renamed Solar Frontier in April 2010. Background Solar Frontier's parent company Showa Shell Sekiyu had been involved with solar energy since 1978. Production on a commercial scale of crystalline silicon modules for solar cells began in 1983, and research on CIS (copper-indium-selenium) technology began in 1993. Manufacturing plants Solar Frontier has manufacturing plants in Miyazaki Prefecture, where it develops and manufactures CIS solar panels, that combine Copper indium gallium selenide, CIGS and CIGSe materials. The company emphasizes the fact that it uses neither cadmium (Cd) nor lead (Pb) for its cells. Copper indium gallium selenide solar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Energy transformation, energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt (1736–1819), an 18th-century Scottish people, Scottish invention, inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved the Newcomen steam engine, Newcomen engine with his own Watt steam engine, steam engine in 1776. Watt's invention was fundamental for the Industrial Revolution. Overview When an object's velocity is held constant at one metre per second against a constant opposing force of one Newton (unit), newton, the rate at which Work (physics), work is done is one watt. : \mathrm In terms of electromagnetism, one watt is the rate at which electrical work is performed when a current of one ampere (A) flows across an electrical potentia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyimide
Polyimide (sometimes abbreviated PI) is a polymer containing imide groups belonging to the class of high-performance plastics. With their high heat-resistance, polyimides enjoy diverse applications in roles demanding rugged organic materials, e.g. high temperature fuel cells, displays, and various military roles. A classic polyimide is Kapton, which is produced by condensation of pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4'-oxydianiline.Wright, Walter W. and Hallden-Abberton, Michael (2002) "Polyimides" in ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'', Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. History The first polyimide was discovered in 1908 by Bogart and Renshaw. They found that 4-amino phthalic anhydride does not melt when heated but does release water upon the formation of a high molecular weight polyimide. The first semialiphatic polyimide was prepared by Edward and Robinson by melt fusion of diamines and tetra acids or diamines and diacids / diester. However, the first polyimide of significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coating
A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the Substrate (materials science), substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. Powder coatings. Paints and lacquers are coatings that mostly have dual uses of protecting the substrate and being decorative, although some artists paints are only for decoration, and the paint on large industrial pipes is for preventing corrosion and identification e.g. blue for process water, red for fire-fighting control etc. Functional coatings may be applied to change the surface properties of the substrate, such as adhesion, Wetting, wettability, corrosion resistance, or wear resistance. In other cases, e.g. semiconductor device fabrication (where the substrate is a wafer (electronics), wafer), the coating adds a completely new property, such as a magnetic response or electrical conductivity, and forms an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic and natural polymers play essential and ubiquitous roles in everyday life. Polymers range from familiar synthetic plastics such as polystyrene to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are fundamental to biological structure and function. Polymers, both natural and synthetic, are created via polymerization of many small molecules, known as monomers. Their consequently large molecular mass, relative to small molecule compounds, produces unique physical properties including toughness, high elasticity, viscoelasticity, and a tendency to form amorphous and semicrystalline structures rather than crystals. The term "polymer" derives from the Greek word πολύς (''polus'', meaning "many, much") and μέρος (''meros'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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