New findings of the German joint project “flexible CIGSe thin film solar cells for space flight”

The presented joint project is directed towards the development and verification of a flexible, lightweight and highly efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGSe) thin film solar cell technology on a polyimide foil substrate for space applications. The German activities to harmonize the present resources are a unique approach in the field of chalcopyrite based thin film solar cells in order to enable a beneficial course of the project through the integration of space and terrestrial solar cell research activities. In addition to the project structure and objective, recent results of the back contact evaluation, the standardization of the thin film solar cell layout and CIGSe solar cell manufacturing on flexible polyimide foil are presented.