Abound Solar produces cadmium telluride thin-film solar modules using a proprietary closed-space sublimation technology developed at Colorado State University.

In the solar and photovoltaics field, Komax supplies of machines for the production of crystalline ;and thin-film modules, including individual processes such as stringing and integration of entire production lines.

The rationale for this is that thin-film modules are cheaper to manufacture owing to their reduced material costs, energy costs, handling costs and capital costs.

The division incorporates Erfurt-based Bosch Solar Thin Film GmbH, which is devoted to the production of thin-film solar modules and achieves significant savings in the raw material silicon with the aid of thin-film technology.

Its operations include exports of thin-film solar photovoltaic modules for the construction of a five-megawatt (MW) solar project in India.

The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 MW solar power plant under construction in Riverside County, California, that will use thin-film solar photovoltaic modules.

These thin-film modules convert sunlight into electricity by the help of a thin layer of a Copper-Indium-Disulphide semiconductor which is deposited on copper tape.

Its activities in this sector focus on the development and supply of integrated systems for the production of silicon solar cells and thin-film modules.

At these levels, thin-film modules will cost less than fifty cents per watt to manufacture, opening new markets such as cost-effective distributed power and utility production to thin-film electricity generation.

In recent years, the manufacturers of thin-film solar modules have brought costs down and gained competitive strength through advanced thin film technology.