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CIGS companies eye building-integrated photovoltaics

AUSTIN, Texas--"It's like a great big grilled cheese sandwich machine."

That's how solar power company HelioVolt's vice president of marketing and sales, John Langdon, describes the company's pilot line for CIGS thin-film photovoltaics, a technology that a raft of companies are betting on to lower the cost of solar energy.

"You have the Gruyere cheese on one side and the Swiss cheese on the other; we make them react with one another and stick on the bread," Langdon continued when CNET News.com visited the company's headquarters in Austin.

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HelioVolt claims CIGS solar efficiency mark

Solar upstart HelioVolt on Monday will announce that it has reached 12.2 percent efficiency with its CIGS solar cells, setting another mark in the race against competitors and silicon.

Company CEO BJ Stanbery will present a paper at the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference where he will disclose the efficiency threshold which HelioVolt has reached in its labs. The well-financed company expects it can go much further in converting light to electricity.

More significant than the actual number is the fact that HelioVolt hit 12 percent efficiency with its manufacturing process, which it says can turn out a cell in … Read more

Green Tech news harvest: More-efficient solar cells and 'biogasoline'

A sampling of green-tech news thus far this week, touching on solar cells, carbon markets, biofuels, and electric cars.

NREL: Record Makes Thin-Film Solar Cell Competitive with Silicon Efficiency Thin-film cells made from CIGS hit over 19 percent efficiency in NREL labs, rivaling traditional silicon. Shell, Virent form joint venture to convert crops to biogasoline | Chron.com/Houston Chronicle Forget ethanol. Here come hydrocarbons from plants. Shell and Virent to make 'biogasoline.' Technology Review: More-Powerful Solar Cells MIT spin-off 1366 Technologies (see Green Tech blog coverage) shoots for more efficient solar cells through manufacturing innovations. Pay for the Power, Not the Panels | The New York Times … Read more