Solar Cell Developers Look beyond Silicon

by Chappell Brown EE Times, 20 Feb 2006 A new slant on compound semiconductors has produced a high-efficiency photovoltaic process that might beat existing technologies in cost of production as well. HelioVolt has developed a process based on rapid thermal annealing and anodic bonding that allows high-performance copper-indium-gallium-selinide films to be deposited on just about any substrate. Founder and photovoltaic pioneer Billy Stanbery claims the process can dramatically shorten manufacturing time and reduce the thermal budget by a factor of 10 to 100. The process could allow a new class of materials for building integrated photovoltaics. Read more