Thin-film cell - solar module

Various semiconductor materials like amorphous (non-crystalline) silicon (a-Si), copper-indium-diselenide (CIS) and cadmium-telluride (CdTe) are the base materials of thin-film solar cells.

When vapored onto the carrier material (glass, metall or plastic), thin film modules only require - in comparison to crystalline silicon modules - a tenth of the semiconductor material applied normally. In terms of production merely one third of the energy is required.

The efficiency is about 6-8% for thin-film solar modules. They compensate this disadvantage by a more stable performance at high temperatures.