Japan’s Idemitsu sets up U.S. lab for space-grade CIGS solar cells

Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. has established a development laboratory for space-grade copper indium gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar cells in the United States.

According to an update published by the company, the laboratory, located at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Oasis facility, is the first of its kind.

Idemitsu says it plans to rapidly conduct prototyping and evaluations of space-grade CIGS solar cells based on identified market needs and technical requirements. It will also use the U.S. lab to enable evaluation and reliability validation and provide technical analyses and proposals for customer requirements.

“Insights gained from the U.S. market will be quickly fed back to Idemitsu’s research and development activities and incorporated into product development and mass-production technology development in Japan,” the company’s statement explains. “Through these initiatives, Idemitsu aims to accelerate commercialization of spacegrade CIGS solar cells.”

Idemitsu adds that it is also currently advancing the development of a bench manufacturing plant in Japan aimed at establishing mass production technologies by 2027. 

“Following the launch of the bench manufacturing plant, [we] will evaluate introducing full-scale mass-production facilities based on market conditions and the progress of technology development,” the company said.

“In addition to establishing the new U.S. lab, Idemitsu will continue its efforts to build a mass -production framework, aiming to achieve early commercialization of its space-grade CIGS solar cells, which contributes to the supply chain supporting the global space industry.”

Idemitsu announced a collaboration with U.S.-based Source Energy Company to develop CIGS solar modules for satellite and space applications late last year. At the time, the Japanese company said its proprietary thin-film CIGS solar cell technology offered the space market high radiation resistance, a lightweight profile and sustained high performance that can potentially reduce the need for oversized arrays.

In 2019, Idemitsu became the largest shareholder of Japanese copper-indium-selenium (CIS) module maker Solar Frontier. Earlier that year, Solar Frontier set a new record for CIS thin film cell efficiency earlier, with a 23.35% conversion on a cell measuring 1 cm² that still stands as the record today.