Glass beads of 0.2 mm diameter are covered with molybdenum, copper and indium. The copper/indium layers are transformed into copper indium disulfide (CIS) by exposing the glass beads to a hydrogensulfide/argon mixture at temperatures of around 500 degrees C. The CIS covered glass beads serve as the basis material for the formation of solar cells. The main advantage of this approach is the separation between absorber and cell/module formation. In this paper the different process steps necessary for cell manufacturing are described. Some properties of solar cells made out of CIS covered glass beads are presented. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.