NREL Certifies 16.4% Nanosolar Foil Efficiency

It was May 2006 when Nanosolar last released information about its power-conversion efficiencies to the public (for a cell sample on glass actually back then). Martin Roscheisen, Nanosolar’s CEO, noted that Nanosolar has made a lot of progress since then.

He noted that Nanosolar’s lab and production teams have managed to make more progress on efficiency than the company had planned on in any of its business plans.

As a result, Roscheisen announced that Nanosolar’s low-cost printed-CIGS-on-metal-foil cell stack and process produces quite efficient cells: Earlier this year, NREL independently verified several of its cell foils to be as efficient as 16.4%.

At 16.4% efficiency, Nanosolar’s foil cells represent two world records in one: It’s the most efficient printed solar cell of any kind (all semiconductor and device technologies) as well as the most efficient cell on a truly low-cost metal foil (with a material cost of only a cent or two per square foot and mil thickness).

In terms of current baseline production process, Nanosolar’s best production rolls now achieve higher than 11% median efficiency measured as equivalent to panel efficiency, with very tight cross- and down-web uniformity.