New York: IBM has anounced that it is partnering with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) to establish new, low-cost methods for bringing the next generation of solar energy products to market that will be easier to install than those available today.

Both the companies will jointly develop processes, materials and equipment suitable for the production of copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar cell modules, which will be relatively cost effective form those used today.

The usage of thin film technology will help in reducing the overall cost of solar cells and further enabling their widespread adoption, the company said.

IBM Research has developed new, non-vacuum, solution-based manufacturing processes for CIGS solar cells and is targeting efficiencies around 15 per cent and higher.

Combining IBM's technology with the proven coating technique and high purity chemicals of TOK has the potential to bring the large scale production of thin-film solar cells to market.

"Our goal is to develop more efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost, minimise the complexity, and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power," IBM Research Science and Technology Vice President Tze-Chiang Chen said.

According to IBM, thin-film CIGS solar cells can be 100x thinner than silicon-wafer cells, can be deposited on cheap glass substrates, and thus have correspondingly lower cost.
—iGovernment Bureau