Ascent
Solar Technologies has said that initial set of production runs on its
thin-film flexible roll-to-roll line achieved average efficiencies of
9.5 percent including a high efficiency of 10.27 percent. Ascent
claimed the milestone from its Initial Operating Capability (IOC) on
its 1.5MW production line in Littleton, Colorado.
“IOC is an important milestone for Ascent Solar,” commented Ascent Solar’s Senior Vice President for Manufacturing, Dr. Prem Nath. “Our entire manufacturing team is very pleased with the initial results, including the process uniformities demonstrated by our new production tools. We now intend to focus our efforts on repeatability, production yields and continued efficiency improvements.”
Initial production trials for overall thin-film uniformity were plus or minus approximately 3 percent across the width of the roll and plus or minus approximately 2 percent along its length, the company said.