January 27, 2010 - German thin-film solar PV developer Avancis says tests with the US' National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) show its 30×30cm2 encapsulated CIS solar modules achieve 15.1% aperture-area efficiency, "a new international record." The mark improves upon the company's initial 9%-11% marks achieved since starting production in October 2008; it ramped to 20MWp output in Oct. 2009 at its site in Torgau (near Leipzig), Germany.
The subsidiary of French glass and construction materials group Saint-Gobain -- formerly a joint venture with Shell, whose portion was bought out in August -- claims roots into the early 80s, with support from its two former parents as well as Siemens. It claims to have attained "around 20%" efficiencies in the lab, which would be in the competitive ballpark with multicrystalline silicon solar cells.
