[Stockholm, Sweden, March 19, 2014.] Midsummer, a leading supplier of equipment for cost effective manufacturing of CIGS thin film flexible solar cells, today announced the launch of the UNO, a low cost versatile research and development platform for thin film deposition specifically developed for universities and research facilities.
The cost effective UNO tool derives from world leading production of CIGS solar cells. With its generic design and optional configurations, UNO is the ideal solution for a range of thin film research applications. It has a high throughput, flexibility, stability and ability to design complex test series.
“There has been a lot of interest from universities and institutes for a lower cost version of our commercial DUO production tool for research and development,” said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer. “We are happy to announce the launch of the UNO in response to these requests, and hope that a research tool like this will contribute to accelerate the development of cost-effective and efficient thin film CIGS and CZTS solar cells on a global scale.”
The UNO is a platform for CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, selenium) and CZTS (copper, zinc, tin and sulfide) solar cell research. In addition, it can be used for a multitude of applications where a sputtered material stack in an unbroken vacuum chain is required (thin film batteries, fuel cells, small display screens etc.).
The UNO can have up to 13 sputtering cathodes and warm the substrate up to 750°C (1,400°F). It can load up to 300 substrates and run automatic test series, where each substrate has different parameter settings. It can also be supplemented with co-evaporation, analytical tools, database and various options.
The UNO has many of the features and design of the DUO, including a small footprint. The biggest difference between the two tools is that the UNO has only one main vacuum chamber and that sputtering takes place in only one process station at a time, which is suitable for R&D.
Another R&D feature is that the UNO can use both glass and stainless steel substrates and can be equipped with more in-site measurement stations. The UNO is a pure R&D tool and not a low cost production tool. The price of the UNO starts at under $1m, but depends on configuration.
Midsummer’s commercial production line is the DUO, a unique and compact CIGS turn-key system with a 5 MW annual production capacity. Midsummer’s CIGS cells looks like crystalline silicon solar cells, but are made on stainless steel substrates. This makes the cells suitable not only for regular solar panels, but also for flexible, light weight panels that can be used on membrane roofs, landfills or other structures where the traditional glass modules cannot be applied.
“We firmly believe that thin film CIGS solar cells are the solar cells of the future,” said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer. “They are increasingly efficient and have many advantages over traditional silicon-based solar cells. They are durable, can withstand vibrations, can be curved and bent, and can be manufactured cost-efficiently in small volumes.”
Thin film CIGS solar panels are thinner and lighter than traditional silicon solar cells made of glass. They are also non-toxic (no cadmium) and can be made frameless, thus ideal for buildings and moving vehicles in cities. They are flexible and can be bent.
About Midsummer
Midsummer is a leading supplier of equipment for cost effective manufacturing of CIGS thin film flexible solar cells. Midsummer’s turnkey manufacturing lines have a small footprint, are perfectly scalable and allow for small-scale production of solar cells and modules.
Midsummer’s customers are thin film solar cell manufacturers all over the world. CIGS flexible solar modules are growing in popularity thanks to their low weight, flexibility and durability. Applications are e.g. floating modules, vehicles, landfills, portable power generation and membrane roofs on factories, offices and other structures that are not strong enough for traditional glass modules.
Founded in 2004 by people with a background from the optical disc manufacturing equipment and the photo mask industry, Midsummer has its head office in Stockholm, Sweden. Midsummer was the fastest growing greentech company in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in 2007-2011 (according to Deloitte).
About CIGS thin film solar cells
CIGS stands for copper-indium-gallium-selenium, a metal alloy that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect (PV). The CIGS absorber is deposited on a stainless steel substrate, along with electrodes on the front to collect current. The cells are then connected in series and covered by a protective layer of plastic to form a flexible solar module.
Since a stainless steel substrate is used, the modules can be made without glass. The CIGS solar modules are therefore much lighter, flexible and can be made frameless, to suit applications where traditional silicon solar cells cannot be used, e.g. on structures that are uneven, moving or weak.
CIGS solar cells are manufactured by sputtering the material onto 156x156 mm stainless steel substrates. The solar cells from Midsummer are free of cadmium, a toxic material usually used in CIGS and other thin film solar cells.
Flexible CIGS solar modules are gaining market share thanks to its high efficiency, low weight, flexibility and durability. There have been significant improvements in CIGS cell efficiency, with Midsummer achieving aperture area efficiency in excess of 15.8 per cent in an all-vacuum process.
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