CIGS are good for you? When it's solar technology, sure!

That's right, there's yet another solar power technology under development, and this one is poised to hit the market in 2009. It's called CIGS, an abbreviation for CuInGaSe2, which is an abbreviation for copper, inidium, gallium, selenide 2, a semiconductor compound which, embedded in a sheet of polymer, can release electrons while absorbing sunlight. It's been around since the 1990s, but relatively low cost of silicon (until now - processing is extremely energy-intensive) and the extremely low cost of carbon fuels (until now) have hampered the need for development.

Like the dye-based cells mentioned yesterday, these cells can work on cloudy days.

Also like the dye-based cells mentioned yesterday, they will have a lower production rate per square foot of cell, compared to traditional, silicon-based cells. However, it is expected by US firm Allied Materials that a product which produces power at a cost of $1 per watt (competitive with current carbon-based power generation) will be ready by 2009. Swiss company Flisom is working on a similar product and timeline.

The bad news? Even the boosters aren't enthusiastic about solar wresting production capacity away from carbon:

"We think solar power can provide 20pc of all the incremental energy needed worldwide by 2040," [says Mike Staple, of Allied Materials]

The full article is available here.