Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) has great development potential in the thin film solar cell market

Copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS in English, is a quaternary compound composed of four elements: copper (Cu), indium (In), gallium (Ga), and selenium (Se). It is a high-performance semiconductor material mainly used as Sputtering targets can be used to prepare thin film materials using pulsed laser deposition, magnetron sputtering, epitaxial growth, chemical vapor deposition, electrochemical deposition, spray pyrolysis and other processes. They are mainly used in thin film solar cell manufacturing. field.

Copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells use a copper indium gallium selenide film as a light absorption layer to convert light energy into electrical energy. Its basic structure includes: glass substrate, molybdenum conductive layer, copper indium gallium selenide absorption layer, and cadmium sulfide transition layer, zinc oxide window layer, glass cover, etc. The copper indium gallium selenide absorption layer is an important component of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell, and the copper indium gallium selenide material is indispensable.

According to the “China Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report 2022-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that theoretically, copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells have the advantages of high photoelectric conversion efficiency, low production cost, good low-light performance, good flexibility, strong radiation resistance, stable performance, beautiful appearance, and extremely Has development prospects. Copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells can be widely used in centralized photovoltaic power stations, distributed photovoltaic power stations, photovoltaic building integration, solar vehicles, fishery and photovoltaic complementation, agricultural photovoltaic complementation and other fields, which is beneficial to the development of the copper indium gallium selenide industry.

Thin film solar cells are the third generation of solar cells, and their light absorption layers can use semiconductor materials such as cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, copper indium selenide, and gallium arsenide. At present, cadmium telluride materials have the highest application proportion, reaching 85%. However, the core technology of cadmium telluride thin film solar cells is in the hands of a few foreign companies. Against the background of rising trade protectionism, my country’s thin film solar cell industry must independently develop and produce production capabilities to avoid being “stuck”. Therefore, copper indium gallium selenide materials have attracted attention .

The structure of copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells is complex, and the proportion accuracy of each element of the copper indium gallium selenide material requires high precision, and the industry’s technical barriers are high. my country entered the copper indium gallium selenide thin-film solar cell industry earlier, but the technology is immature. Due to factors such as efficiency and cost, the company is in a state of loss. In recent years, my country’s copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell technology bottleneck has been gradually broken through. For example, Hanergy’s glass-based copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar module has a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 16.97%, setting a new world record.

The breakthrough in technical bottlenecks has laid the foundation for the industrial production of copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells in my country. At present, although the cost of copper indium gallium selenide components is still higher than that of traditional polycrystalline silicon/monocrystalline silicon components, as the production process becomes increasingly mature and the production scale gradually expands, its cost continues to decrease. From the above analysis, compared with cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide has more development prospects in the field of thin film solar cells in my country.

Industry analysts said that in my country and globally, the market share of copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells is rising, driving copper The demand for indium gallium selenide continues to grow. Against this background, the number of global copper indium gallium selenide manufacturers continues to increase. Representative companies include American Elements, Stanford Advanced Materials, ALB Materials, NC Element, etc. The Chinese government vigorously promotes photovoltaic building integration projects, which is beneficial to the development of the thin-film solar industry. my country’s copper indium gallium selenide industry has broad prospects in the future.