Progress in high-throughput manufacturing of thin-film CdTe modules

Solar Cells, Inc. (“SCI”) has manufactured and installed over 50kW of thin-film CdTe modules with an average total area efficiency of greater than 6.75%. These installations have demonstrated reliable performance at or above system ratings. In addition, modules routinely pass extensive stress testing. A champion $60 cm×120 cm$ module has been measured at 61.0 watts or over 9.0% aperture area efficiency. SCI has initiated the scaling of its pilot line process to a multimegawatt level. This paper summarizes the status of these development activities including equipment specification, support programs, and product validation.