CIS

Abstract

A single-crystal copper indium diselenide (CuInSe₂ or CIS) cell of 12% efficiency was made at Bell Labs in 1975, spurring interest in this rather exotic compound semiconductor. Since then, a small effort has been directed at developing it. Several groups—University of Maine, Boeing Aerospace Corporation, Solar Energy Research Institute, Institute of Energy Conversion (University of Delaware), ARCO Solar, and International Solar Electric Technology—have been enthusiastic about the potential of CIS. Others have been preoccupied with silicon—crystalline or amorphous—and felt that CIS was a minor material of little value to PV.