Thin Film Solar: The Facts

Thin film solar cells have many advantages over traditional and conventional solar, and these differences are the reason they could finally lead to a tipping point where solar becomes a widespread and viable source of green energy.

The benefits of this technology, and reasons why it is promising include:

- Thin Film Solar cells don’t use costly and scarce silicon as a main ingredient, making them cheaper and easier to manufacture.

- Instead, thin film cells are made from materials that make up the acronym "CIGS" (copper indium gallium selenide), which are easy to find and work with.

- Thin film solar gets its name because the cells are arranged on a flexible and thin backing, so they can be easily fit to many different areas, such as tinted windows and roofs with odd shapes.

- Thin film solar cells can also be cut and then easily integrated together, so roofs can still look shingled.

- Thin film solar panels are literally “printed” onto the backing, which is a cheaper and more energy efficient manufacturing process.

- These cells may someday be printable with special ink from an inkjet printer!

These are just some of the advantages of thin film solar cells. Look into this exciting technology and you'll also be impressed with the large corperations that are looking into developing them, including both technology and energy companies. They are the latest wave and could put solar energy over the top in becoming a viable and effective alternative to gas and oil.