Thin film solar cell
Encyclopedia
A thin-film solar cell (TFSC), also called a thin-film photovoltaic cell (TFPV), is a solar cell
that is made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin film
) of photovoltaic material on a substrate
. The thickness range of such a layer is wide and varies from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers.
Many different photovoltaic materials are deposited with various deposition methods on a variety of substrates. Thin-film solar cells are usually categorized according to the photovoltaic material used:
s, thin-film PV is now available in very large modules used in sophisticated building-integrated installations and vehicle charging systems. GBI Research, a private company selling reports it calls "global business intelligence",
projects thin film production to grow 24% from 2009 levels and to reach 22,214 MW in 2020. "Expectations are that in the long-term, thin-film solar PV technology would surpass dominating conventional solar PV technology, thus enabling the long sought-after grid parity
objective."
(a-Si or a-Si:H), protocrystalline, nanocrystalline
(nc-Si or nc-Si:H) or black silicon
. Thin-film silicon is opposed to wafer
(or bulk) silicon (monocrystalline
or polycrystalline
).
, typically plasma-enhanced (PE-CVD), from silane
gas and hydrogen
gas. Other deposition techniques being investigated include sputtering
and hot wire
techniques.
The silicon is deposited on glass, plastic or metal which has been coated with a layer of transparent conducting oxide (TCO).
A p-i-n structure is usually used, as opposed to an n-i-p structure. This is because the mobility of electrons in a-Si:H is roughly 1 or 2 orders of magnitude larger than that of holes, and thus the collection rate of electrons moving from the p- to n-type contact is better than holes moving from p- to n-type contact. Therefore, the p-type layer should be placed at the top where the light intensity is stronger, so that the majority of the charge carriers crossing the junction would be electrons.
silicon module
technology combines two different types of silicon, amorphous
and microcrystalline, in a top and a bottom photovoltaic cell. These two materials are chosen because their different absorption spectrums and easily combined process. Because the two different materials are both Si, they can be manufactured in the same technology, which now is PECVD. The band gap of a-Si is 1.7 eV and that of c-Si is 1.1 eV, which eventually broaden the spectral acceptance of the micromorph tandem solar cell. The c-Si layer can help to absorb the energy of red and infrared spectrum and increase the overall efficiency. The best efficiency can be achieved at transition between a-Si and c-Si. Use of protocrystalline
silicon for the intrinsic layer has shown to optimize the open-circuit voltage
of an a-Si photovoltaic cell.
and conduction band
s (band tails). The solar cells made from these materials tend to have lower energy conversion efficiency
than bulk
silicon (also called crystalline or wafer silicon), but are also less expensive to produce. The quantum efficiency
of thin-film solar cells is also lower due to reduced number of collected charge carrier
s per incident photon.
Amorphous silicon has a higher bandgap (1.7 eV
) than crystalline silicon (c-Si, 1.1 eV), which means it absorbs the visible part of the solar spectrum more strongly than the infrared
portion of the spectrum. As nc-Si has about the same bandgap as c-Si, the nc-Si and a-Si can advantageously be combined in thin layers, creating a layered cell called a tandem cell. The top cell in a-Si absorbs the visible light and leaves the infrared part of the spectrum for the bottom cell in nc-Si.
Recently, solutions to overcome the limitations of thin-film silicon have been developed. Light trapping schemes where the incoming light is obliquely coupled into the silicon and the light traverses the film several times enhance the absorption of sunlight in the films. Thermal processing techniques enhance the crystallinity of the silicon and pacify electronic defects.
A silicon thin film technology is being developed for building integrated photovoltaics
(BIPV) in the form of semitransparent
solar cells which can be applied as window glazing
. These cells function as window tinting while generating electricity.
would use a photovoltaic polymer compound to produce electricity. Current research devcies show low efficiency and stability. If an organic solar cell of usable efficiency can be developed, it may reduce the cost of PV installations.
efficiencies of 12–20%; prototype
module efficiencies of 7–13%; and production modules in the range of 9%. Future module efficiencies are expected to climb close to the state-of-the-art of today's best cells, or to about 10–16%.
Annual manufacturing volume in the United States has grown from about 12 megawatts (MW) per year in 2003 to more than 20 MW/yr in 2004; 40–50 MW/yr production levels were expected in 2005 with continued rapid growth in the years after that.
Costs are expected to drop to below $100/m2 in volume production, and could reach even lower levels—well under $50/m2, the DOE/NREL goal for thin films—when fully optimized. At these levels, thin-film modules will cost less than fifty cents per watt to manufacture, opening new markets such as cost-effective distributed power and utility production to thin-film electricity generation.
As crystalline silicon price rose, the production cost of silicon-based solar cell module in 2008 was at some point 4–5 times higher than that of thin film modules. Thin-film producers still enjoy in 2009 price advantage as its production cost is 20% less than that of silicon modules.It is expected that the production cost of thin-film will continue dropping (40% less than silicon), as Chinese producers are now putting more resources into R&D and partnering with manufacturing equipment suppliers
claimed that they intend to bring it down further to USD 0.5/W. Those equipment suppliers have been doing R&D for micro-morphous silicon modules since 2008. This technology represents a development based on the thin-film panels made of ordinary amorphous silicon marketed at present that brings higher cell efficiency by depositing an additional absorber layer made of micro crystalline silicon on the amorphous layer. Some equipment suppliers even claim that there will be machinery in market to manufacture these new modules at $0.70. With such potential of further development of thin film solar technology, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association
(EPIA) expects that manufacturing capacities for these technologies will double to over 4GW by 2010 representing a market share of around 20%.
GE announced plans to spend $600 million on a new CdTe solar cell plant and enter this market
, the CdTe thin-film manufacturer stated that "at the end of 2007, over 300 MW of First Solar PV modules had been installed worldwide." Below is a list of several recent installations:
Denver-based Conergy
Americas and officials at California's South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) have installed what is believed to be the world's first single-axis solar tracking system featuring thin-film photovoltaic cells.
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
that is made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin film
Thin film
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer to several micrometers in thickness. Electronic semiconductor devices and optical coatings are the main applications benefiting from thin film construction....
) of photovoltaic material on a substrate
Wafer (electronics)
A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...
. The thickness range of such a layer is wide and varies from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers.
Many different photovoltaic materials are deposited with various deposition methods on a variety of substrates. Thin-film solar cells are usually categorized according to the photovoltaic material used:
- Amorphous siliconAmorphous siliconAmorphous silicon is the non-crystalline allotropic form of silicon. It can be deposited in thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.-Description:...
(a-Si) and other thin-film silicon (TF-Si) - Cadmium TellurideCadmium tellurideCadmium telluride is a crystalline compound formed from cadmium and tellurium. It is used as an infrared optical window and a solar cell material. It is usually sandwiched with cadmium sulfide to form a p-n junction photovoltaic solar cell...
(CdTe) - Copper indium gallium selenideCopper indium gallium selenideCopper indium gallium selenide is a I-III-VI2 semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium. The material is a solid solution of copper indium selenide and copper gallium selenide...
(CIS or CIGS) - Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) and other organic solar cellOrganic solar cellAn organic photovoltaic cell is a photovoltaic cell that uses organic electronics--a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules for light absorption and charge transport....
s
History
Initially appearing as small strips powering hand-held calculatorCalculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
s, thin-film PV is now available in very large modules used in sophisticated building-integrated installations and vehicle charging systems. GBI Research, a private company selling reports it calls "global business intelligence",
projects thin film production to grow 24% from 2009 levels and to reach 22,214 MW in 2020. "Expectations are that in the long-term, thin-film solar PV technology would surpass dominating conventional solar PV technology, thus enabling the long sought-after grid parity
Grid parity
Grid parity is the point at which alternative means of generating electricity is at least as cheap as grid power.For solar energy, it is achieved first in areas with abundant sun and high costs for electricity such as in California, Hawaii, Spain and Japan. Many solar power advocates predict that...
objective."
Thin-film silicon
A silicon thin-film cell uses amorphousAmorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon is the non-crystalline allotropic form of silicon. It can be deposited in thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.-Description:...
(a-Si or a-Si:H), protocrystalline, nanocrystalline
Nanocrystalline silicon
Nanocrystalline silicon , sometimes also known as microcrystalline silicon , is a form of porous silicon. It is an allotropic form of silicon with paracrystalline structure—is similar to amorphous silicon , in that it has an amorphous phase...
(nc-Si or nc-Si:H) or black silicon
Black silicon
Black silicon is a semiconductor material, a surface modification of silicon with very low reflectivity and correspondingly high absorption of visible light. The modification was discovered in the 1980s as an unwanted side effect of reactive ion etching...
. Thin-film silicon is opposed to wafer
Wafer (electronics)
A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices...
(or bulk) silicon (monocrystalline
Monocrystalline silicon
Monocrystalline silicon or single-crystal Si, or mono-Si is the base material of the electronic industry. It consists of silicon in which the crystal lattice of the entire solid is continuous, unbroken to its edges. It can be prepared intrinsic, i.e...
or polycrystalline
Polycrystalline silicon
Polycrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, is a material consisting of small silicon crystals. It differs from single-crystal silicon, used for electronics and solar cells, and from amorphous silicon, used for thin film devices and solar cells....
).
Design and fabrication
The silicon is mainly deposited by chemical vapor depositionChemical vapor deposition
Chemical vapor deposition is a chemical process used to produce high-purity, high-performance solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In a typical CVD process, the wafer is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or...
, typically plasma-enhanced (PE-CVD), from silane
Silane
Silane is a toxic, extremely flammable chemical compound with chemical formula SiH4. In 1857, the German chemists and Friedrich Woehler discovered silane among the products formed by the action of hydrochloric acid on aluminum silicide, which they had previously prepared...
gas and hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
gas. Other deposition techniques being investigated include sputtering
Sputtering
Sputtering is a process whereby atoms are ejected from a solid target material due to bombardment of the target by energetic particles. It is commonly used for thin-film deposition, etching and analytical techniques .-Physics of sputtering:...
and hot wire
Hot Wire
-Track listing:*All Songs Written By Mel Galley, except where noted.# Back Street Love 5:01# Take It On Down The Road 4:45# Midnight Flyer 6:01# Wake Up, Shake Up 3:55# Turn It On 5:11# Steal A Mile 4:52# Goin' Home 5:14...
techniques.
The silicon is deposited on glass, plastic or metal which has been coated with a layer of transparent conducting oxide (TCO).
A p-i-n structure is usually used, as opposed to an n-i-p structure. This is because the mobility of electrons in a-Si:H is roughly 1 or 2 orders of magnitude larger than that of holes, and thus the collection rate of electrons moving from the p- to n-type contact is better than holes moving from p- to n-type contact. Therefore, the p-type layer should be placed at the top where the light intensity is stronger, so that the majority of the charge carriers crossing the junction would be electrons.
Micromorphous silicon
MicromorphousMicromorph
The artificial word micromorph is a combination of the words MICROcrystalline and aMORPHou. It is used for a type of thin-film silicon mulitjunction solar cell.- The micromorph cell :...
silicon module
Photovoltaic module
A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
technology combines two different types of silicon, amorphous
Amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon is the non-crystalline allotropic form of silicon. It can be deposited in thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.-Description:...
and microcrystalline, in a top and a bottom photovoltaic cell. These two materials are chosen because their different absorption spectrums and easily combined process. Because the two different materials are both Si, they can be manufactured in the same technology, which now is PECVD. The band gap of a-Si is 1.7 eV and that of c-Si is 1.1 eV, which eventually broaden the spectral acceptance of the micromorph tandem solar cell. The c-Si layer can help to absorb the energy of red and infrared spectrum and increase the overall efficiency. The best efficiency can be achieved at transition between a-Si and c-Si. Use of protocrystalline
Protocrystalline
A protocrystalline phase is a distinct phase occurring during crystal growth which evolves into a microcrystalline form. The term is typically associated with silicon films in optical applications such as solar cells.-Silicon solar cells:...
silicon for the intrinsic layer has shown to optimize the open-circuit voltage
Open-circuit voltage
Open-circuit voltage is the difference of electrical potential between two terminals of a device when there is no external load connected, i.e. the circuit is broken or open. Under these conditions there is no external electric current between the terminals, even though there may be current...
of an a-Si photovoltaic cell.
Efficiency
These types of silicon present dangling and twisted bonds, which results in deep defects (energy levels in the bandgap) as well as deformation of the valenceValence band
In solids, the valence band is the highest range of electron energies in which electrons are normally present at absolute zero temperature....
and conduction band
Conduction band
In the solid-state physics field of semiconductors and insulators, the conduction band is the range of electron energies, higher than that of the valence band, sufficient to free an electron from binding with its individual atom and allow it to move freely within the atomic lattice of the material...
s (band tails). The solar cells made from these materials tend to have lower energy conversion efficiency
Energy conversion efficiency
Energy conversion efficiency is the ratio between the useful output of an energy conversion machine and the input, in energy terms. The useful output may be electric power, mechanical work, or heat.-Overview:...
than bulk
Bulk
-Industry:* Bulk cargo* Bulk liquids* Bulk mail* Bulk material handling* Bulk pack, packaged bulk materials/products* Bulk purchasing- Physics :*Bulk density*Bulk modulus...
silicon (also called crystalline or wafer silicon), but are also less expensive to produce. The quantum efficiency
Quantum efficiency
Quantum efficiency is a quantity defined for a photosensitive device such as photographic film or a charge-coupled device as the percentage of photons hitting the photoreactive surface that will produce an electron–hole pair. It is an accurate measurement of the device's electrical sensitivity to...
of thin-film solar cells is also lower due to reduced number of collected charge carrier
Charge carrier
In physics, a charge carrier is a free particle carrying an electric charge, especially the particles that carry electric currents in electrical conductors. Examples are electrons and ions...
s per incident photon.
Amorphous silicon has a higher bandgap (1.7 eV
Electronvolt
In physics, the electron volt is a unit of energy equal to approximately joule . By definition, it is equal to the amount of kinetic energy gained by a single unbound electron when it accelerates through an electric potential difference of one volt...
) than crystalline silicon (c-Si, 1.1 eV), which means it absorbs the visible part of the solar spectrum more strongly than the infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
portion of the spectrum. As nc-Si has about the same bandgap as c-Si, the nc-Si and a-Si can advantageously be combined in thin layers, creating a layered cell called a tandem cell. The top cell in a-Si absorbs the visible light and leaves the infrared part of the spectrum for the bottom cell in nc-Si.
Recently, solutions to overcome the limitations of thin-film silicon have been developed. Light trapping schemes where the incoming light is obliquely coupled into the silicon and the light traverses the film several times enhance the absorption of sunlight in the films. Thermal processing techniques enhance the crystallinity of the silicon and pacify electronic defects.
Building integrated photovoltaics
Thin film solar panels are commercially available for installation onto the roofs of buildings, either applied onto the finished roof, or integrated into the roof covering. The advantage over traditional PV panels is that they are very low in weight, are not subject to wind lifting, and can be walked on (with care). The comparable disadvantages are increased cost and reduced efficiency.A silicon thin film technology is being developed for building integrated photovoltaics
Building integrated photovoltaics
Building-integrated photovoltaics are photovoltaic materials that are used to replace conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or facades...
(BIPV) in the form of semitransparent
Transparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...
solar cells which can be applied as window glazing
Glazing
Glazing, which derives from the Middle English for 'glass', is a part of a wall or window, made of glass. Glazing also describes the work done by a professional "glazier"...
. These cells function as window tinting while generating electricity.
Organic solar cells
An organic solar cellOrganic solar cell
An organic photovoltaic cell is a photovoltaic cell that uses organic electronics--a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules for light absorption and charge transport....
would use a photovoltaic polymer compound to produce electricity. Current research devcies show low efficiency and stability. If an organic solar cell of usable efficiency can be developed, it may reduce the cost of PV installations.
Efficiencies, volumes and prices
Since the invention of the first modern silicon solar cell in 1954, incremental improvements have resulted in modules capable of converting 12 to 18 percent of solar radiation into electricity. The performance and potential of thin-film materials are high, reaching cellSolar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
efficiencies of 12–20%; prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
module efficiencies of 7–13%; and production modules in the range of 9%. Future module efficiencies are expected to climb close to the state-of-the-art of today's best cells, or to about 10–16%.
Annual manufacturing volume in the United States has grown from about 12 megawatts (MW) per year in 2003 to more than 20 MW/yr in 2004; 40–50 MW/yr production levels were expected in 2005 with continued rapid growth in the years after that.
Costs are expected to drop to below $100/m2 in volume production, and could reach even lower levels—well under $50/m2, the DOE/NREL goal for thin films—when fully optimized. At these levels, thin-film modules will cost less than fifty cents per watt to manufacture, opening new markets such as cost-effective distributed power and utility production to thin-film electricity generation.
As crystalline silicon price rose, the production cost of silicon-based solar cell module in 2008 was at some point 4–5 times higher than that of thin film modules. Thin-film producers still enjoy in 2009 price advantage as its production cost is 20% less than that of silicon modules.It is expected that the production cost of thin-film will continue dropping (40% less than silicon), as Chinese producers are now putting more resources into R&D and partnering with manufacturing equipment suppliers
Production, cost and market
In recent years, the manufacturers of thin-film solar modules are bringing costs down and gaining in competitive strength through advanced thin film technology. However, the traditional crystalline silicon technologies will not give up their market positions for a few years because they still hold considerable development potential in terms of the cost. Efficiency of thin film solar is considerably lower and thin film solar manufacturing equipment suppliers intend to score costs of below USD 1/W, and Anwell Technologies LimitedAnwell Technologies Limited
Anwell Technologies Limited is a supplier of manufacturing equipment with trading and manufacturing business in optical disc and solar cell. They vertically integrated into manufacturing business of optical disc and solar cell in 2007 and 2008...
claimed that they intend to bring it down further to USD 0.5/W. Those equipment suppliers have been doing R&D for micro-morphous silicon modules since 2008. This technology represents a development based on the thin-film panels made of ordinary amorphous silicon marketed at present that brings higher cell efficiency by depositing an additional absorber layer made of micro crystalline silicon on the amorphous layer. Some equipment suppliers even claim that there will be machinery in market to manufacture these new modules at $0.70. With such potential of further development of thin film solar technology, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association
European Photovoltaic Industry Association
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association is the world’s largest solar photovoltaic industry association, representing around 95 percent of the European photovoltaic industry and 80 percent of the worldwide PV industry...
(EPIA) expects that manufacturing capacities for these technologies will double to over 4GW by 2010 representing a market share of around 20%.
GE announced plans to spend $600 million on a new CdTe solar cell plant and enter this market
Installations
First SolarFirst Solar
First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of thin film photovoltaic modules, or solar panels, and a provider to PV power plants of supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling...
, the CdTe thin-film manufacturer stated that "at the end of 2007, over 300 MW of First Solar PV modules had been installed worldwide." Below is a list of several recent installations:
- Since 16 October 2008, Germany's largest thin-film pitched roof system, constructed by Riedel Recycling, has been in operation and producing solar power in Moers near DuisburgDuisburg- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
. Over eleven thousand cadmium telluride modules, from First Solar, deliver a total of 837 kW. - First Solar recently completed a 2.4 MW rooftop installation as part of Southern California EdisonSouthern California EdisonSouthern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
program to install 250 MW of rooftop solar panels throughout Southern California over by 2013. - First Solar announced a 7.5 MW system to be installed in Blythe, CA, where the California Public Utilities CommissionCalifornia Public Utilities CommissionThe California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
has accepted a 12 ¢/kWh power purchase agreement with First Solar (after the application of all incentives). - Construction of a 10 MW plant in the Nevada desert began in July 2008. First Solar is partnering with Sempra Generation, which will own and operate the PV power-plant, being built next to their natural gas plant.
- Stadtwerke Trier (SWT) in TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Germany is expected to produce over 9 GWh annually - A 40 MW system is being installed by JuwiJuwiThe Juwi Holding AG is a company which builds renewable power supply facilities.Founded by Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher in 1996, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
in Waldpolenz Solar ParkWaldpolenz Solar ParkWaldpolenz Solar Park, which is the world’s largest thin-film photovoltaic power system, was built by German developer and operator Juwi at a former military air base to the east of Leipzig in Germany. The power plant is a 40 MW solar power system using state-of-the-art thin film technology, and...
, Germany. At the time of its announcement, it was both the largest planned and lowest cost PV system in the world. The price of 3.25 euros translated then (when the euro was equal to US$1.3) to $4.2 per installed watt. - 4.8KW of thin film flexible solar panels manufactured by Uni-Solar Ovonic installed on a South BeachSouth BeachSouth Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...
hurricane-prone residence in 2008.
Denver-based Conergy
Conergy
Conergy AG is a company in the solar energy industry founded in 1998 by the former chairman of the board Hans-Martin Rüter. It had a turnover of 706 Million euros in 2007, and employs more than 2000 staff. It also has a company called Conergy Americas....
Americas and officials at California's South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) have installed what is believed to be the world's first single-axis solar tracking system featuring thin-film photovoltaic cells.
See also
- List of photovoltaics companies
- Low-cost photovoltaic cell
- Low-cost solar cell
- Plasmonic solar cellPlasmonic solar cellPlasmonic solar cells are a class of photovoltaic devices that convert light into electricity by using plasmons. PSCs are a type of thin-film SC which are typically 1-2μm thick. They can use substrates which are cheaper than silicon, such as glass, plastic or steel. The biggest problem for thin...
- PhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
Sources
- Grama, S. “A Survey of Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaic Industry & Technologies.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008.
- Green, Martin A. “Consolidation of thin-film photovoltaic technology: the coming decade of opportunity.” Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 14, no. 5 (2006): 383–392.
- Green, M. A. “Recent developments in photovoltaics.” Solar Energy 76, no. 1-3 (2004): 3–8.
- Beaucarne, Guy. “Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells.” Advances in OptoElectronics 2007 (August 2007): 12.
- Ullal, H. S., and B. von Roedern. “Thin Film CIGS and CdTe Photovoltaic Technologies: Commercialization, Critical Issues, and Applications; Preprint” (2007).
- Hegedus, S. “Thin film solar modules: the low cost, high throughput and versatile alternative to Si wafers.” Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 14, no. 5 (2006): 393–411.
- Poortmans, J., and V. Arkhipov. Thin Film Solar Cells: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications. Wiley, 2006.
- Wronski, C.R., B. Von Roedern, and A. Kolodziej. “Thin-film Si:H-based solar cells.” Vacuum 82, no. 10 (June 3, 2008): 1145–1150.
- Chopra, K. L., P. D. Paulson, and V. Dutta. “Thin-film solar cells: an overview.” Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 12, no. 2-3 (2004): 69–92.
- Hamakawa, Y. Thin-Film Solar Cells: Next Generation Photovoltaics and Its Applications. Springer, 2004.
- Green, Martin. “Thin-film solar cells: review of materials, technologies and commercial status.” Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 18 (October 1, 2007): 15–19.
External links
- Flexcellence, a STREPStrepStrep or STReP may refer to:*An abbreviation for Streptococcus, a bacterial genus*An abbreviation for Streptococcal pharyngitis, an infectious disease...
financed by the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) of the EU. Full title : Roll-to-roll technology for the production of high-efficiency low cost thin-film silicon photovoltaic modules. - CrystalClear, an Integrated Project funded in FP6.