Journal
SOLAR ENERGY
Volume 85, Issue 8, Pages 1580-1608Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2010.12.002
Keywords
Solar; Photovoltaics; Wafer; Thin film; Photovoltaic market; Nanophotovoltaics
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We review the technical progress made in the past several years in the area of mono-and polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies based on Si, III-V, II-VI, and I-III-VI2 semiconductors, as well as nano-PV. PV electricity is one of the best options for sustainable future energy requirements of the world. At present, the PV market is growing rapidly at an annual rate of 35-40%, with PV production around 10.66 GW in 2009. Si and GaAs monocrystalline solar cell efficiencies are very close to the theoretically predicted maximum values. Mono-and polycrystalline wafer Si solar cells remain the predominant PV technology with module production cost around $1.50 per peak watt. Thin-film PV was developed as a means of substantially reducing the cost of solar cells. Remarkable progress has been achieved in this field in recent years. CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 thin-film solar cells demonstrated record efficiencies of 16.5% and almost 20%, respectively. These values are the highest achieved for thin-film solar cells. Production cost of CdTe thin-film modules is presently around $0.76 per peak watt. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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