Combining a thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si) and a thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) cell into one integrated module, the company claims it is the most efficient thin-film photovoltaic module technology, with demonstrated efficiency as high as 13%. The company also explains that other primary advantages of the PV Duo technology are that it retains the important advantages of a-Si, including its ability to perform in high temperature and low light conditions, and that it has no carcinogenic content, as opposed to other advanced thin-film technologies such as Cadmium Telluride and other CIGS products which use cadmium sulphide as a buffer layer.
This is initially CIGS-based and is laminated to the first photovoltaic glass plate, initially a-Si-based, resulting in an a-Si/CIGS four terminal tandem module.
The PV Duo module is similar to other glass-to-glass encapsulated thin-film photovoltaic modules such as a-Si and CIGS modules, incorporating a glass plate to which layers of material comprising the thin-film PV device are deposited. However, unlike a-Si and CIGS modules with a second glass plate that serves as a blank (i.e. a protective back cover laminated to the PV glass plate), the PV Duo uses the surface area of the second glass plate to create a second photovoltaic device, initially CIGS-based, which is laminated to the first photovoltaic glass plate, initially a-Si-based, resulting in an a-Si/CIGS four-terminal tandem module.
The company offers its PV Duo, a-Si and CIGS products in 1.0 square meter and 1.5 square meter substrate sizes, and turnkey manufacturing systems for all products, with either manual or optional automated glass plate-handling.
“I, and other members of our technical team, have been involved in the development of virtually every thin-film technology from the 1960's onward. The PV Duo is the pinnacle of this work, a combination of the best technologies to deliver a higher-efficiency thin-film product without the dangers of cadmium," stated Dr. Zoltan Kiss, founder of Amelio Solar.
