30 May 2011

Sulfurcell renamed Soltecture

Sulfurcell GmbH of Berlin, Germany, which makes both sulfur-based CIGS and selenium-based CIGSe ‘CIS’ thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, has renamed itself Soltecture GmbH.

“The renaming is a logical step that takes the evolution of our company into account,” says CEO & founder Dr Nikolaus Meyer. “The new name ‘Soltecture’ gets to the heart of our core competencies and stands for superior performance in solar, technology, and architecture,” he adds. “We are signaling and underlining the development of the company from module manufacturer to a provider of optimum integrated PV system solutions.”

Sulfurcell was spun off 10 years ago (in 2001) from the Hahn-Meitner-Institut (now the Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy). In 2002 it raised €9m from private investors, followed in 2003 by R&D grants of €7m from the Senate of Berlin. The firm subsequently set up pilot production of thin-film PV modules based on a copper indium sulphide (CIS) photovoltaic absorbing layer, making its first shipments in 2005.

In July 2008, the firm raised €85m in an equity financing round involving Intel Capital and the BEU fund (which is supported by Vattenfall Europe and Gaz de France Suez). Funding was used to construct production facilities and to expand R&D.

More recently, Soltecture added gallium to copper indium sulphide to produce modules with a CIGS absorbing layer (yielding higher conversion efficiency). Also, since the end of 2008, Soltecture has been working on second-generation technology, which deploys an absorbing layer based not on sulfur but on selenium (CIGSe), yielding even higher efficiency. CIGS and CIGSe modules are produced with the same equipment, but some new, specially developed equipment is also used just for the CIGSe coating stage of the process.

Last July, Soltecture produced the first prototypes of large-format solar modules based on CIGSe with energy conversion efficiency greater than 10%. This new product line was unveiled at the 25th European PV Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC 2010) in Valencia, Spain last September as modules measuring 1.25m x 0.65m (0.8m2) with an aperture efficiency of 10.7% and a peak output of 86.8W (as confirmed by the German technical inspection agency TÜV Rheinland). In mid-February, this was raised to 12.6% and 94W. Just weeks later, record efficiency of 13.0% was achieved.

This January, Sulfurcell raised a further €18.8m ($25m) in an equity financing round led by Intel Capital and joined by other existing investors. This boosted total funding to €110m. The latest funding is going towards the acquisition of additional equipment for the firm’s fully automated manufacturing facility as well as ongoing R&D work for its CIGSe techology.

Annual production capacity for the CIGS product line is 20MW, while the CIGSe line is being ramped up from 5MW to 15MW (three fabrication lines), making 35MW in total.

During continuing shift operation (24/7) within just three months of the start of CIGSe production, a yield of more than 80% was achieved (i.e. more than four out of five modules produced are meeting the required specifications). Soltecture says that the rapid increase in yields in mass production and the marginal deviance in module power (90W ± 3W) confirm process stability, which is widely recognized as a challenge in thin-film module production.

In the next 10–16 months, Sulfurcell aims to boost module efficiency to more than 14% and production yield to more than 90%. Based on quality control and a background of series production readiness, sales and distribution of the new modules have already begun.

Soltecture says that it now offers standardized solutions for the integration of thin-film modules for constructions such as roofs, factories, and modern facades. “With their engineering expertise and years of experience in solar technology, our engineers constantly develop new PV solutions that are perfectly adjusted for solar architecture,“ says executive director & chief sales officer Henrik Kruepper. “We offer our clients solar integration from one source.”

Tags: Sulfurcell CIGSe

Visit: www.soltecture.com