Ascent Solar just announced that it has been chosen by Cambrios Technologies to be a research partner for Cambrios’ contract from the U.S. Army’s Natick research facility. Under the contract, Cambrios, which has distinguished itself by developing unique, wet-processed, transparent conductive films, will look for ways to apply these films to copper-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) photovoltaics to create more efficient solar cells.
Researchers believe that flexible solar cells made with Cambrios’ film will be one to three times more efficient than traditional cells.
In a press release,Farhad Moghadam, President and CEO of Ascent Solar, commented on the news:
“We are pleased that Cambrios selected Ascent Solar as their CIGS partner. Their technology, with its higher optical transmission and improved electrical performance, offers us the potential to enhance the performance of our photovoltaic modules. Combined with the potential to implement direct write deposition technology, it is possible to simplify our manufacturing process. Finally, the performance of their technology matches up well with our future needs in high-performance flexible PV modules.”