Honda's subsidiary Honda Soltec announced on June 12, 2007 that it will begin selling "CIGS type" thin film solar cells. The CIGS type is a solar cell using Cu (copper), In (indium), Ga (gallium), and Se (selenium) compounds in the light absorbing layer. In the world market, Germany and other countries have already supplied this product, but Honda Soltec is the first in Japan. Showa Shell Oil, which is developing the same CIGS solar cell, is "provided only experimentally and has not yet been officially sold."
The module size introduced by Honda SolTec is 1.417m × 0.791m × 0.37m per piece. The maximum output power can reach 125W under the condition that the sun is at 48 degrees Celsius, the sunshine intensity is 1kW/m2, and the module temperature is 25°C. The module conversion efficiency is 11.2%, which is slightly lower than the current mainstream single crystal silicon type and polycrystalline silicon type solar cell 13-19%.
The manufacturer's suggested price for each module is 60,375 yen (including tax). Therefore, the module cost per 1 W is the same as or slightly cheaper than the polycrystalline silicon type solar cell. Specifically, the total cost is 144,000 yen (including tax) based on the output power target of 3 kW in Japan. This figure is basically the same as the main product of Sharp's 1.4 million yen. The recommended price for the Kyocera, Sanyo Electric, and Mitsubishi Electric modules is over 1.8 million yen.
Honda SolTec's solar cell, which was released this time, was manufactured in Tochigi by the Honda project, which is engaged in solar cell research and development in the Honda Group. At present, Honda SolTec is preparing for mass production at its factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, and plans to start mass production in the fall of 2007. “The configuration of this time-to-market product is the same as that launched after the fall†(Honda).