PVcomB Lab
The PVcomB Lab (Competence Centre Thin-Film and Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics Berlin) focuses on monolithic CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) and perovskite tandem solar cell development with a particular emphasis on CIGS bottom devices and flexible substrates.
Overview
PVcomB bridges academia and industry through the development of advanced thin-film technologies. The CIGS Lab at PVcomB focuses on the development of monolithic CIGS and perovskite tandem solar cells. Special attention is given to flexible substrates and scalable coating techniques, positioning the lab at the intersection of research and industrial application.
Detailed Description
Purpose:
The PVcomB Lab is designed to accelerate the industrial adoption of thin-film tandem solar technologies by providing a complete development and testing platform for CIGS/perovskite integration. It offers extensive capabilities for substrate preparation, vacuum processing, and interconnection development. Emphasis is placed on flexible substrates and reliable encapsulation to address real-world performance and longevity.
Focus Areas:
- Monolithic integration of CIGS/perovskite tandem solar cells
- Engineering CIGS bottom cells for tandem applications
- Flexible substrate process development
- Scalable, industry-ready interconnection and encapsulation methods
- Driving knowledge and tech transfer to commercial R&D
Unique Features
- Expertise in monolithic tandem architectures combining CIGS and perovskite
- Reactive thermal co-evaporation with high-vacuum multi-stage setups
- Compatibility with flexible substrates
- Access to advanced inline sputtering, electron gun evaporation, and wet-chemical deposition
- Industrial and academic collaboration network focused on rapid technology transfer
- Stability testing aligned with industrial standards
Processing Capabilities
Active Layers
- Reactive thermal co-evaporation (3-stage) under high vacuum
Electrodes
- Inline sputtering
- Chemical bath deposition
Transport Layers
- Inline sputter tool
- Electron gun (egun) evaporation
Patterning
- Laser processing in ambient atmosphere
Packaging
- Laminator / heat press using sealing compounds
Characterization Capabilities
Devices
- Solar simulators (Halogen & Xenon)
- External Quantum Efficiency (EQE)
- Capacitance-voltage (CV) and impedance spectroscopy
- IVT (current-voltage-temperature)
- DLIT and ILIT thermography
Stability
- Outdoor testing setups
- Damp heat testing
Materials & Layers
- PL/EL imaging
- UV-Vis spectroscopy
- Microscopy
- X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
- Hall effect measurements
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
Further information
https://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/projects/pvcomb/forschen/cigs/index_en.html
Contact Person
Prof. Dr. Rutger Schlatmann
rutger.schlatmann(at)helmholtz-berlin.de
Contact Person
Dr. Christian Kaufmann
kaufmann(at)helmholtz-berlin.de