In photovoltaic panel production, thin film modules are made by depositing a thin layer of semiconductor material on a glass or plastic substrate.

Refers one of the solar electricity technologies. For many years, solar cells were manufactured by cutting extremely thin slices of silicon and mounting those slices into solar modules. Roughly half of the very expensive silicon was lost for each slice. Envision a saw cutting a piece of wood. The sawdust represents lost material in the same way. "Thin film" technology allows solar module manufactureres to literally "paint" the material onto various surfaces such as glass, plastics, or metals. This requires 98-99% LESS material, and less time to manufacture, resulting in cost savings.