Achievement of 15.1% total area efficiency on 1.09m2 monolithic CIGSeS modules in TSMC Solar production line

Abstract

15.1% total area efficiency on a monolithic 1.09m2 CIGSeS modules sets a new record for commercial-size, monolithic thin-film modules. This achievement results from improvements in both module design and thin-film composition, including: absorber improvement, cell redesign, and dead area reduction. Absorber improvement mainly consists of Selenization and Sulfurization (SAS) process optimization, resulting in open-circuit voltage (Voc) increase. Cell redesign mitigates the interconnect loss and maximize its benefit for Fill Factor (FF), while the reduction of the dead area increases module current. Production of modules with efficiency exceeding 15% is repeatable in the TSMC Solar production line located in Taichung, Taiwan.