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By Tom Cheyney, Senior Contributing Editor (USA), Photovoltaics International

ABSTRACT
The next two years will be crucial in determining the market viability and future of what many see as the most promising thin-film photovoltaics technology: copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) and its gallium-free cousin, CIS. With potential conversion efficiencies just below that of crystalline silicon PV, low-cost manufacturing strategies offering a chance to reach sub-dollar-per-watt manufacturing costs on both glass and flexible modules, and applications ranging from utility- and  industrial-scale farms to building-integrated commercial and residential uses, the quaternary compound has a large grid-parity upside – if the very real challenges of scaling production to commercial volume can be met.