First Solar, a leading solar panel manufacturer, has announced a partnership with ZSW, a research institute based in Germany. The goal of the agreement is to increase the efficiency of thin-film modules by leveraging ZSW’s expertise in copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) technology, a less common alternative to First Solar’s CdTe offering.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar mentioned the potential for a tandem product with a CdTe top cell and CIGS bottom cell. The company also has primary research and development (R&D) centers in Perrysburg, Ohio, as well as a new Technology Center in Sweden. In addition to thin-film and crystalline silicon solar cells, perovskite developments continue to progress in the solar industry.
Researchers from an Iranian university recently unveiled a report on ‘half-tandem’ perovskite cells, achieving a power conversion efficiency of 27.63%. To establish a more standardized certification mechanism for perovskites, German testing house Fraunhofer ISE launched a new testing apparatus to reliably track efficiencies for perovskite products. However, despite all the publicity and varying statistics, a commercially viable product has yet to be developed.
