Improvements in the Performance of a 1-kW Copper Indium Diselenide Array

A new copper indium diselenide (CIS ) array installed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows a marked improvement over the previous generation in terms of power output and efficiency. The new array is part of NREL's technical validation, started in 1992, of small (1-2 kW) thin-film systems. The purpose of this testing is to evaluate the performance and reliability of thin-filmmodules in a system application. The first array had a rated power at 969 Wand an average efficiency of7.2% at standard test conditions (STC). The second array is rated at 1008 W, and the average efficiency is 9.0% at STC. The data in this paper shows that the new CIS modules have improved by about 37% in relative efficiency under actual operating conditions. The new array's results demonstratethat Siemens Solar Industries has made significant improvements in the performance of their large-area CIS modules.