MiaSole Sets World Record for Highest Efficiency of Commercial Scale Thin-Film Solar Modules

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- MiaSole, the leading manufacturer of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic solar panels, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) independently confirmed the 13.8% efficiency of its large area production modules (one square meter in size). 

"We are pleased with our strong continued progress," said Dr. Joseph Laia, CEO of MiaSole. "The modules that we ship in 2011 will have efficiencies greater than 13%. The only reason that we are not shipping these modules today is that we are awaiting the completion of our UL certifications."

This new high efficiency will allow MiaSole to offer solar modules with the efficiency of polysilicon and the lower manufacturing costs of thin-film modules.

"We are extremely impressed by the recent MiaSole result," said Dr. Ryne Raffaelle, Director of the National Center for Photovoltaics at NREL. "This demonstration is a tremendous step forward in closing the gap between the potential of CIGS results, and what actually can be achieved in a large area production module."

MiaSole's unique manufacturing process lays CIGS on a flexible stainless steel substrate and produces all layers of this highly efficient photovoltaic material in a continuous sputtering process.  MiaSole is the only thin-film solar company that uses sputtering every step of the way for coating the solar modules, thereby reducing manufacturing time and costs of production.

MiaSole will ship 6.5MW in the first half of this year and expects to ship 22MW in 2010. The company's products are designed for utilities and independent power producers to use in industrial scale deployments such as large-scale rooftop and ground mount installations.

About NREL

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. 

About MiaSole (www.miasole.com)

MiaSole is a pioneer and leading developer of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic solar panels, one of the lowest-cost, highest efficiency solar panels in the world. MiaSole's primary mission is to advance the extraordinary potential for harnessing solar power as a competitive, sustainable energy source and enable grid parity by 2012. Based in California, MiaSole currently operates two manufacturing facilities with plans to open a third facility in 2010.

SOURCE MiaSole