Competition

More than 80 % of the solar cells are currently produced on a silicon-basis. This is a time-tested technology which is already well advanced in the learning curve. The raw material is pure silicon, which requires a great deal of energy to produce.

Thin-film technologies such as CIS need much less semiconductor material and energy in production. For this reason, they have the potential of achieving long-term cost reductions. They are therefore the technology of the future.

Apart from CIS Solartechnik GmbH & Co. KG, other companies and working groups are investigating solar cells on a CIS basis. The development of the CIS photosemiconductor already goes back over more than 20 years. Other companies have focused on this development by producing the CIS solar cells in a vacuum process on stiff glass plates in batch production. We by contrast have developed the CIS production with an electroplating process to maturity and are aiming at a continuous production process with substantial potential for cost savings.