A new approach to the manufacture of chalcogenide thin film solar cells

Glass beads of 0.2 mm diameter are covered with molybdenum, copper and indium. The copper/indium layers are transformed into copper indium disulfide (CIS) by exposing the glass beads to a hydrogensulfide/argon mixture at temperatures of around 500 °C. The CIS covered glass beads serve as the basis material for the formation of solar cells. The main advantage of this approach is the separation between absorber and cell/module formation. In this paper the different process steps necessary for cell manufacturing are described. Some properties of solar cells made out of CIS covered glass beads are presented.