The United States uses inkjet printing technology to create cheap CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) thin-film solar cells

According to the website of the American Physicists Organization on June 28, engineers at Oregon State University in the United States have found a way for the first time: using inkjet printing technology to successfully manufacture CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) thin-film solar cells. The new method reduces the waste of raw materials by 90% and significantly reduces the manufacturing cost of solar cells by using some promising compounds. Experts said that with the help of this technology, scientists can eventually manufacture thin-film solar electronic devices with excellent performance, rapid manufacturing and ultra-low cost.

The research was published in the professional journal Solar Materials and Solar Cells, and scientists have also applied for a patent for the technology. Although the conversion rate of the solar cells developed now is only 5%, further research is needed to improve it, but scientists believe that this research will eventually lead to a new generation of solar energy technology.

"This technology has great potential and is expected to be an important new technology in the field of solar energy," said Zhihong Zhang, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University. "So far, no one has used inkjet technology to make a working CIGS solar device."

Zhang Zhihong explained that one advantage of the new technology is that it can significantly reduce material waste. The latest technology does not use expensive vapor deposition to deposit compounds on the substrate - this method will cause a lot of waste of raw materials; inkjet technology can not only produce precise patterns, but also very little waste.

In addition, the latest method uses a very promising compound chalcopyrite - also known as CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), which can greatly improve the efficiency of solar energy conversion. A layer of chalcopyrite is only one to two microns thick, yet it captures almost as much energy from photons as a 50-micron-thick material made of silicon.

In the latest research, scientists have created an ink that uses an inkjet method to print chalcopyrite on a substrate with an energy conversion efficiency of about 5%. Scientists say that theoretically, they can achieve a conversion efficiency of 12%, which would allow them to manufacture solar cells for commercial production.

The scientists also worked with Greg Hellman, an associate professor in the university's department of chemical engineering, to investigate other compounds that could also be used in inkjet technology at an even lower cost.

Many methods of making solar cells are either very time-consuming or require the use of expensive vacuum equipment or toxic compounds. Scientists at Oregon State University are working to eliminate these obstacles and develop lower-cost, more environmentally friendly solar technology. They say the latest technology may incubate many emerging companies and provide a large number of jobs. If manufacturing costs can continue to fall and other obstacles are overcome one by one, one day people will even be able to make solar cells that can be directly integrated into roof materials, making solar cells truly "fly into ordinary people's homes."

"In summary, we have developed a simple, fast, and direct solution-based deposition process to fabricate high-quality CIGS solar cells," Zhang Zhihong concluded. "By controlling the molecular structure of low-cost metal salt precursor compounds, we can conveniently obtain safe, simple, and air-stable inks."