Progress towards commercialization of a 4.5-sun, flat-plate concentrating PV module and system

The design features of a patented 4.5-sun, "flat-plate" concentrating module are presented. Various cell interconnect methodologies are considered. Optical characterization indicates Ag is the reflecting material of choice. Thin-film Cu(In,Ga)Se/sub 2/ (CIGS) solar cells on metallic substrates out-perform nonoptimized wafer-Si in reflectivity and performance under concentration. Wafer-Si cells are easily incorporated into the module with minor variability in performance.