All the other thin-film approaches have inherent instabilities, but CIS, like silicon, has no inherent degradation mechanism that has been identified.

There are several levels of advantages that you get out of this. On the first level, the films do not use very much material. That is significant because over half the cost of silicon solar cells is in the silicon itself. At the next level, you have a shorter value chain. The silicon cells have to be wired together and many additional packaging costs occur. With CIGS films, we eliminate most of that.

As I studied CIGS systems, I began to realize that it had big advantages for manufacturing. Silicon solar cells are essentially printed-circuit boards. You build the solar cells on silicon wafers and then solder and wire them together in panels. As a thin-film technology, CIGS can use the type of lithography and deposition processes used in integrated circuits.

In 1983 I began work on CIS thin films. At that time it was our group at Boeing and another group at ARCO who were developing the technology.

They prospect of seeing oneself in the mirror clean-shaven is too close to a Vincent Price film... a prospect not to be contemplated, no matter the compensation.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to go to these nights out, like the opening of a film or something, but I dip in and out of it.