Photos: Solar business heats up the Golden State

Thin-film cells are fast becoming competitive in solar photovoltaics. Because they use much less material than polycrystalline silicon, they can lower the cost significantly of solar electricity even though the cell efficiency is lower. Here is a string of cells from Global Solar Energy which are made from CIGS, a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide.

Photo by Martin LaMonica/CNET News

Caption by Martin LaMonica