Thin film companies focused on Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS) materials have made a lot of promises in the last few years. Few have been able to deliver. But the California-based CIGS company AQT is hoping to forge a different path – one based on incremental steps rather than a full-on sprint.

The company, which came out of stealth mode last fall, just announced the development of its first manufacturing line, a 15 MW capacity facility that cost only $10 million to build and install. The line is made by Intevac, a provider of sputtering equipment for technologies like hard drives.

AQT uses a sputtering technique to create CIGS cells, which can then be dropped into a standard PV module. According to the company, the cells are 14 percent efficient. When put into a module, they are around 12 percent efficient.

Rather than focus on making massive manufacturing lines itself (a la Heliovolt and Solyndra), AQT is focused on technology partnerships and an incremental scale-up of capacity. While many companies have required many years and lots of capital to meet their targets, AQT was able to deploy the line in about eight weeks, according to the company.

CEO Michael Bartholomeusz calls the approach, “CIGS 2.0.” You can read a piece of commentary from him here.

Four years ago, when many other CIGS companies were making headlines, AQT hadn’t even formed. Now, assuming its strategy works, it’s on pace to actually put the CIGS market on the map.

Below, Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO of AQT, talks about the technical and business-development philosophy behind the company’s approach. The interview was at last fall’s Solar Power International conference.