(Nanowerk News) Intermolecular, Inc. today announced an ongoing project with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for the enhancement of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing technology. The advanced metrology capabilities of the Solar and Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center (SPERC) at KAUST in Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are used along with Intermolecular’s High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC™) platform in San Jose to rapidly learn about high efficiency CIGS solar cell materials and process interdependencies.
"Working with Intermolecular’s team and HPC platform allows us to accelerate our mission of developing sustainable solar power," commented Professor Ghassan Jabbour, Director of SPERC at KAUST. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is focusing enormous resources on developing renewable energy technologies as part of the strategy to transform its fossil fuel-based economy in the coming decades. KAUST is at the forefront of this effort and sees CIGS technology as extremely promising in terms of its potential to deliver the lowest cost solar electricity in the Kingdom." The joint IMI-KAUST project is led by Research Scientist Dr. Jessica Eid, a member of Prof. Jabbour’s team, hosted at Intermolecular’s facility in San Jose, CA.
Sandeep Nijhawan, Intermolecular’s vice president of its Clean Energy Group, commented, "We are fully committed to accelerating various PV technologies using our HPC platform. We recently reported progress on our patent pending sulfur-free, two-step sputtered CIGS approach with fundamental manufacturing benefits at the IEEE PV Specialists Conference (IEEE-PVSC). The breakthrough result of 17.7% active-area CIGS efficiency at an open-circuit voltage of 692mV—which we developed internally in less than one year—reaffirms the broad applicability of our HPC platform to rapidly advance CIGS PV. We are very excited to work with KAUST to further enhance CIGS technology and showcase our capabilities in this important region."
Intermolecular’s mission is to drive our customers’ success by transforming R&D and accelerating innovation in markets that derive competitive advantage from the interaction of materials science, processes, integration and device architecture.
About Intermolecular, Inc.
Intermolecular® has pioneered a proprietary approach to accelerate research and development, innovation, and time-to-market for the semiconductor and clean energy industries. The approach consists of its proprietary HPCTM platform, coupled with its multi-disciplinary team. Through paid collaborative development programs (CDPs) with its customers, Intermolecular develops proprietary technology and intellectual property for its customers focused on advanced materials, processes, integration and device architectures. Founded in 2004, Intermolecular is based in San Jose, California. —Intermolecular™ and the Intermolecular logo are registered trademarks; and HPC™ is a trademark of Intermolecular, Inc.; all rights reserved. Learn more at www.intermolecular.com.
About King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is an international, graduate university committed to advancing science and technology through transdisciplinary research, education and innovation. The University's unique matrix structure supports both basic and goal-oriented research in the globally significant areas of energy, water, food, and environment to benefit Saudi Arabia and beyond. Located on the Red Sea, KAUST is the realization of a decade-long vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The University is governed by an independent, self-perpetuating Board of Trustees and supported by a generous endowment.
Source: Intermolecular