Thin-film solar
PV technologies that deposit absorber layers only a few micrometres thick onto glass, metal or plastic, mainly cadmium telluride, CIGS and amorphous silicon.
Thin-film solar cells use direct-bandgap absorbers that capture sunlight in layers 1–5 µm thick, roughly a hundred times thinner than a silicon wafer. Layers are deposited by vapour or sputtering processes over whole glass panels, with laser scribing creating monolithic series connections.
- CdTe (cadmium telluride): the only thin film at large scale, led by First Solar. Commercial modules reach about 19–20%; lab cell record around 23%.
- CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide): lab cells about 23.6%, commercial modules 14–18%; used in flexible products.
- Amorphous silicon: 6–9% modules, now mostly in consumer electronics.
Thin film made up roughly 4–5% of global PV production in the early 2020s (Fraunhofer ISE Photovoltaics Report). Its advantages include a lower temperature coefficient (CdTe about −0.28 to −0.32 %/°C), good performance in diffuse and hot conditions, low embodied energy and a short energy payback time, often under a year in sunny regions. Drawbacks are lower efficiency, which raises area-related balance-of-system costs, and concerns about tellurium and indium supply. Perovskites are an emerging thin-film class.
Related terms
All terms →- Perovskite solar cell
A solar cell whose absorber is a metal-halide compound with the perovskite crystal structure, offering tunable bandgap, cheap processing and very fast efficiency gains.
- Monocrystalline silicon
Silicon grown as a single continuous crystal, usually by the Czochralski method, giving the highest-efficiency and now dominant wafer type for PV.
- Temperature coefficient
The percentage change in a PV module power, voltage or current per degree Celsius of cell temperature away from 25 °C.
- Energy payback time
The time an energy system must operate to generate as much energy as was used to manufacture, install and decommission it.
- Lifecycle emissions
Total greenhouse gas emissions of a product or power source across its full life, from raw material extraction and manufacturing through operation to decommissioning.