Patent ID: 8778724

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device comprising the steps of: providing a polymeric substrate including an upper operating temperature, the polymeric substrate being selected from the group consisting of polyamide and polycarbonate; applying an electrode layer over the polymeric substrate, the electrode layer being applied in roll-to-roll processing and including a material selected from the group consisting of Mo, Ta, W, Ti, ZnO, and ITO; depositing an amorphous photovoltaic precursor directly or indirectly over the polymeric substrate and the electrode layer, the amorphous photovoltaic precursor including a photovoltaic efficiency of less than 1% and being selected from the group consisting of CdTe, CdS, CdSe, ZnTe, ZrTe, ZnSe, ZnS, CdZnTe, CuInTe 2 and Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 ; and exposing the photovoltaic precursor to at least one pulse of predominately infrared light from a source of pulsed infrared light to thermally convert the photovoltaic precursor, at an annealing temperature that exceeds the upper operating temperature of the polymeric substrate, into a crystalline photovoltaic material having a photovoltaic efficiency of greater than 1% without causing the polymeric substrate to exceed the substrate upper operating temperature of the polymeric substrate, wherein the polymeric substrate forms a roll-formed web moveable with respect to the source of pulsed infrared light.