TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING - Preferred Method: The method of forming thin film photovoltaic module, further comprises: patterning the electrode layer prior to transferring the substrate to the second chamber, where the patterning comprises forming at least one electrode patterns using a laser ablation technique; and subjecting the substrate to a dip process for substantially removing the copper sulfide cap layer. The fourth chamber comprises many heaters configured to perform a rapid thermal annealing of the substrate at 500 degrees C. The thermal treatment process further comprises forming a copper sulfide cap layer over the copper-indium-disulfide material. The forming the photovoltaic absorber layer comprises doping the substrate with sodium, boron, or aluminum. The method of forming Cu-In-S layer, further comprises: doping the copper-indium-sulfide layer to form an absorber layer; transferring the substrate from a first load lock to the first process chamber; transferring the substrate to a second load lock from the fourth process chamber, where the first load lock and the second load lock is part of the multi-chamber system; and forming a cap layer over the copper-indium-sulfide layer. The doping comprises exposing the Cu-In-S layer to sodium, boron, or aluminum species. Preferred Components: The substrate comprises soda lime glass, quartz, fused silica, or plastic. The first chamber comprises two or more sputtering targets disposed in series and characterized by resistivity of 100-10 ohm-cm. The two or more sputtering targets comprise a conductive material comprising of molybdenum, tungsten, copper, chromium, aluminum, nickel or platinum. The electrode layer comprises at least one sub-layer and is characterized by a total thickness of 300-400 nm. The second chamber comprises a vacuum environment with a pressure of 6.2 mTorr or lower. The copper-bearing material layer comprises a copper-gallium alloy. The third chamber comprises a sputtering target made of material comprising 99.999% pure indium. The indium layer is formed overlying the copper-bearing material layer using a direct current (DC) sputtering technique. The sulfur-bearing species comprise a hydrogen sulfide gas, a sulfur vapor from a solid phase sulfide material, or a deposited sulfur layer overlying the indium layer. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.