Significant progress in CIGS thin-film solar cell technology reported at IWCIGSTech7

By Rutger Schlatmann & Hans Werner Schock, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Michael Powalla, Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW)

An efficient exchange of knowledge is essential to move the technology forward. In June 2016, the IW-CIGSTech workshop was organized for the seventh consecutive year in a row. This time, the event took place
as a parallel event to the EU-PVSEC/Intersolar Europe in Munich. In the workshop, representatives from industry and academia gathered to discuss the latest developments in the fast-developing field of CIGS
(Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2) based solar cells. As a result of last year’s workshop, a joint, community-wide effort resulted in the broadly acknowledged “White Paper for CIGS thin film solar cell technology”. In this article, we provide a brief impression of the progress and challenges reported in this year’s workshop.