Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Ascent Solar Reports Module Efficiency Results

Thornton, Colorado-based Ascent Solar Technologies, which is developing flexible, thin-film solar modules, said today that the firm has hit 10.0% in module efficiency for its CIGS solar modules. The firm said that the company has independently verified its Copper, Indium, Gallium, Selenide modules through the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with individual modules testing as high as 10.4%. Ascent said the modules tested by NREL were produced on the company's 1.5MW commercial production line. The highest module efficiency for CIGS, achieved by NREL itself, was 19.9%; commercial CIGS firms have been aiming at efficiencies of above 10% for production volumes.