Multinary Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)(2) absorbers (abrev. CIGSSe) are promising candidates for reducing the cost of photovoltaics well below the cost of crystalline silicon. Shell Solar has pioneered production of this new thin film technology and is now with the first generation at a volume of well over 1 MW/year. In a separate pilot line for second generation products we have further improved the performance of CIGSSE based solar modules. We developed a novel CIGSSE formation technique called stacked elemental layer rapid thermal processing (SEL-RTP). This process has recently been scaled up from initial laboratory sized mini-modules (10 x 10 cm(2)) to full sized power modules of 60 x 90 cm(2). The present paper concentrates on in situ and ex situ characterization techniques that were developed to control and further improve large area CIGSSE processing. The crystalline thin film formation process has been analyzed with in situ thin film calorimetry and in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). That work has added fundamental insights and accelerates the optimization process. The depth distribution of gallium and sulfur has been determined by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) for different selenization and sulfurization processes. Appropriate profiles of these elements allow for a deliberate bandgap profiling within the Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)(2) absorber. In addition further quality control tools like X-ray fluorescence analysis and Raman spectroscopy for stoichiometry monitoring, photoluminescence lifetime mapping and thermographic imaging have been developed in order to improve large area uniformity and reproducibility. Some first full sized modules from the new pilot line look very promising: Aperture area efficiencies of up to 13.1% for monolithic thin film circuits on 0.54 m(2) and a module power of 65 W represent an international champion value for large are thin film solar modules. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.