Market development
Physical vapor deposition (PVD) materials
Tosoh is contributing to the development of the photovoltaic cell market and is in the process of commercializing two types of
physical vapor deposition (PVD) materials for the transparent electrode layer on a photovoltaic cell. Our zinc aluminum oxide (ZAO) product is for thin film silicon photovoltaic cells, and our indium tin oxide (ITO) product is for copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) photovoltaic cells. Both products substantially increase the efficiency of photovoltaic energy conversion.
Technology development
Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) sputtering targets
Tosoh is developing a new transparent conducting oxide (TCO)
sputtering targets. Our enhanced ITO and zinc aluminum oxide (ZAO) TCO targets achieve higher photovoltaic cell efficiency than standard targets. The rapid development of the photovoltaic cell market, however, is increasing the cost of ITO materials. As a result, we are investigating lower-cost alternatives for use in photovoltaic cells.
Resins for photovoltaic cells
High-performance ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sealing film
Tosoh is developing resins for the growing photovoltaic cell market, with an emphasis on high-performance
ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sealing film. Tosoh is one of only a few companies worldwide making grades of EVA suitable for the encapsulant film of photovoltaic cells.