Empa - Thin Films and Photovoltaics

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You are here:	empa.ch	>	Departments	>	Advanced	>	Thin


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	Thin Films and Photovoltaics

	General Information
	CIGS
	CdTe
	Tandem Cells
	Education

Thin Films and Photovoltaics


General Information

CIGS

CdTe

Tandem Cells

Education

Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics

The laboratory for thin films and photovoltaics is doing research and development of highly efficient thin film solar cells. We mainly focus on novel concepts to improve the performance of solar cells, to simplify production processes and to improve the device structure of next generation solar cells with higher efficiency at lower cost for terrestrial as well as for space applications. CdTe as well as Cu(In_1-xGa_x)Se₂absorber layers are investigated. These materials are promising candidates for cheaper solar electricity compared to conventional Silicon solar cells.

CuIn1-xGaxSe2 – Flexible and Lightweight

Flexible CIGS Solar Cell

The development of highly efficient, stable, light weight and flexible solar cells is important for terrestrial as well as for space applications. Our laboratory is developing a novel low temperature deposition process for the production of solar cells on flexible polymer foils. The thickness of the completed solar cell including the polymer substrate is less than 25 um. A world record efficiency of 20.4% was recently achieved. More...

Tandem Cells – Advanced Device Structures for Better Utilization of the Solar Spectrum

In our laboratory CIGS solar cells with an efficiency of up to 18.8% were produced on glass substrate. Tandem cells are stacked stacked solar cells with varying optical band gaps. Therefore, tandem cells allow absorb more of the light from the sun such that higher efficiency is achieved. More...

Alternative Materials and Processes

Alternative contacts and buffer layers for advanced solar cells are investigated. More...

CdTe Solar Cells

Flexible CdTe Solar Cell

CdTe is a very promising technology for industrial production of thin film photovoltaic modules. An efficiency of up to 15.6% was achieved in our laboratory. More...

Functional Inorganic Materials

The recently founded group for inorganic thin film materials has the aim to connect fundamental research with applied research in the field of synthesis and self-assembly of inorganic thin film materials, with specialization on colloidal nano-structures. To improve this interdisciplinary research work is performed at two institutes of the ETH domain: at ETH Zurich and at EMPA Dübendorf. The main point of the efforts is the synthesis of inorganic nano-crystals and their self-assembly on multi-functional solid state structures. By developing a suitable design as well as by performing extensive characterization of the surface chemistry as well as the spacing of the nano-crystals, we aim to transfer the properties of individual nano-crystals into useful properties of solids based on nana-crystals. Finally, these research efforts will lead us to cost-effective and high throughput production processes for nano-structured materials for the application in energy generation and storage.