We report on solar absorber surfaces prepared in a sputtering unit designed for industrial production using roll coating technique and high sputtering rates. The reproducibility and stability of the sputtering process is very good. Solar absorbtance of 0.96 and thermal emittance of 0.10 are obtained. The sputtered absorber is as cost effective as other commercial coatings available for flat plate collectors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.