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An introduction to solar cell technology

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DOI: 10.5937/jaes14-10879

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doi:10.5937/jaes14-10879 Paper number: 14(2016)4, 405, 481 - 491

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR CELL

TECHNOLOGY
Kiran Ranabhat*
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
Leev Patrikeev
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
Aleksandra Antal’evna Revina
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
Kirill Andrianov
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
Valerii Lapshinsky
Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation
Elena Sofronova
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation

Solar cells are a promising and potentially important technology and are the future of sustainable en-
ergy for the human civilization. This article describes the latest information achievement in the field
of solar cells [Solar cell efficiency tables (version 48) containing the latest efficiency of different types
of solar cells published on July 2016. The article also contains data related to the worlds’ energy and
particularly that part which related to the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. On the ba-
sis of these data prospects of solar energy for human and the possible ways of implementing the lat-
est advanced Photovoltaic technology are defined. Also, methods of conversion of solar energy into
electricity, working principles and materials used for various types of photovoltaic technology, as well
as the global solar market, present cost of solar energy and roadmap of solar energy is presented in
this paper. Imagine solar cells installed in cars to absorb solar energy to replace the traditional use
of diesel and gas. Using the same principle, cell phones can also be charged by solar energy. There
are such a wide variety of applications.
Key words: Solar cell technology; Types of solar cells; Generation of solar cells; Solar cells; Organic
Photovoltaic (OPV); Photovoltaic technology (PV); PV market; DSSC (dye-sensitized solar cell)

INTRODUCTION yet been exhausted, the negative social, health,

and environmental impacts of our current un-
This is the time of nanotechnology. But today sustainable patterns of energy use are apparent
there is nothing more important than energy, [02,03,04,05,06]. In the future, large-scale alter-
since the lack of energy means a significant ob- native methods of producing the vast quantities
stacle to the present civilization, i.e not enough of energy needed to sustain and enhance our
food, warm shelter and connection to the Inter- standard of living are necessary [07,08,09,10].
net, including the consumption of nanotechnolo- If current trends continue, future society will
gy products. The development of modern trends require increased electrical energy. It seems
of energy demands promising new technologies highly probable that greenhouse gas emissions
and even new physical and chemical processes will lead to significant global warming over the
for the establishment and operation of efficient next 50 years. Climate change is real and it is
systems to generate, accumulate, transform and happening right now, it is the most urgent threat
transport of energy into its various forms [01]. facing our entire species and we need to work
Although global fossil fuel resources have not collectively together and stop it. Fortunately, ad-

*Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, 6 Miklukho-Maklay Street Moscow, 117198, Russia; 481
[email protected]
 Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

vances in science and technology have provided exploded to find the most efficient and cost ef-
us with several alternative means of producing fective solar cells so the world does not remain
energy on a sustainable level, such as wind, fossil fuels dependant. PV technology offers a
geothermal, biomass, and solar [11]. Solar is a number of significant benefits. Solar power is a
cleaner, safer investment for our family and busi- renewable resource that is available everywhere
ness. We can immediately reduce your electricity in the world. Solar PV technologies are small and
bill, enjoy energy independence from rising en- highly modular and can be used virtually any-
ergy costs and increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) where, unlike many other electricity generation
emissions, and increase your home or building’s technologies. Unlike conventional power plants
value. Solar energy is ready today. using coal, nuclear, oil and gas, solar PV has no
Ever since the Becquerel discovered the first fuel costs and relatively low operation and main-
photovoltaic effect in 1839, using solar energy tenance (O&M) costs. Thus, PV will continue to
has been a goal in the scientific world. Every produce power indefinitely (as long as the sun
hour the energy absorbed by Earth’s atmo- shines). Photovoltaic are truly a sustainable and
sphere from the sun is more than enough to sat- environmentally friendly method of producing
isfy global energy needs for an entire year. For energy. Not only this but it’s for free, so why shall
this reason, research in the last few decades has we not utilize it.

Figure 1: Solar irradiance spectrum above atmosphere and at surface

Solar cells need to absorb a range of energy, which Where θ is the angle from the vertical (zenith an-
corresponds to the solar spectrum to be efficient. gle). When the sun is directly overhead, the Air
The solar spectrum has a range of 100nm to Mass is 1. The purpose of this paper is to explain
1mm, but most of the irradiance occurs between different types of PV technology present today in
250nm- 2500nm (figure 1) with the maximum the world and to provide the achievements in the
in the visible region of light (400-700nm) for air field of advanced photovoltaic and photochemi-
mass (AM) 0, which means that the solar cells cal conversion of solar energy into electricity and
should strive to absorb as much in visible region methods of selection of PV technology according
of solar spectrum as possible. to different criteria (cost of production, the effi-
The Air Mass is the path length which light takes ciency of solar energy conversion, and others…)
through the atmosphere normalized to the short- Rapid technological developments over the last
est possible path length (that is, when the sun 20 years coupled with a dramatic decrease in
is directly overhead). The Air Mass quantifies costs of photovoltaic technology have opened
the reduction in the power of light as it passes the way for large-scale deployment. There are a
through the atmosphere and is absorbed by air wide range of PV cell technologies on the market
and dust. The Air Mass is defined as: , today, using different types of materials, and an

482 Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405

Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

even larger number will be available in the future.

PV cell technologies are usually classified into
three generations, depending on the basic mate-
rial used and the level of commercial maturity.
FIRST-GENERATION PV TECHNOLOGIES:
CRYSTALLINE SILICON CELLS
Bell Laboratories developed the first silicon solar
cell in 1954 with an efficiency of 6%. The earli-
Figure 2: The air mass represents the proportion of
est commercial silicon traditional solar cells are atmosphere that the light must pass through before
made from silicon, are currently the most effi- striking the Earth relative to its overhead path length,
cient solar cells available for residential use and and is equal to Y/X
account for around above 80 % of all the solar Crystalline silicon cells are classified into three
panels sold around the world. Silicon solar cells main types depending on how the Si wafers are
are the most efficient in terms of single cell pho- made. The types are based on the type of silicon
tovoltaic devices, and silicon is the most abun- used, specifically:
dant element on earth, only second to oxygen. It
• Monocrystalline (Mono c-Si);
is a semiconductor material suitable for PV ap-
plications, with energy band gap of 1.1eV. • Polycrystalline (Poly c-Si); and
• Amorphous Silicon Cells.

Figure 3: Classification of PV cells

The oldest solar cell technology and still the most cess of bulk.
popular and efficient are solar cells made from Policrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon are
thin wafers of silicon. These are called mono- much less pure than the single crystalline silicon,
crystalline solar cells. Commercial production of and most common because they are least ex-
c-Si modules began in 1963 when Sharp Cor- pensive. The reason polycrystalline solar panels
poration of Japan started producing commercial are less expensive than monocrystalline solar
PV modules and installed a 242-Watt (W) PV panels, is because of the way the silicon is made.
(Green, 2001). Compared to the other types of Basically, the molten silicon is poured into a cast
Solar PV, they have a higher efficiency (up to instead of being made into a single crystal. The
26%) [12], meaning you will obtain more elec- highest recorded efficieny for polycrystalline sili-
tricity from a given area of panel. Single crystal con cell is 21% [12].
wafers are made by Czochralski process, as in
silicon electronics. It comprises about 30% of the
market. The cost of fabricating single crystalline
silicon solar cells is due to the purification pro-

Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405 483

 Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

Table 1: Conformed terrestrial cell and sub module efficiencies measured under the global AM1.5 spectrum (100W/m2)
at 25°C (IEC 60904-3: 2008, ASTM G-173-03 global) [12].
Classification
Efficiency Area Voc Jsc Fill Test centre
Description
(%) (cm2) (V) (mA/m2) factor (%) (Dates)

Silicon
Si (crystalline cell) 25.6± 0.5 143.7 0.740 41.8 82.7 AIST (2/14) Panasonic HIT,
rear junction
Si (multicrystalline cell) 21.3± 0.4 242.74 0.6678 39.80 80.0 FhG-ISE Trina Solar
(11/15)
Si (thin transfer submodule) 21.2 ± 0.4 239.7 0.687 38.50 80.3 NREL (4/14) Solexel (35 μm
thick)
Si (thin film minimoule) 10.5 ± 0.3 94.0 0.492c 29.7 72.1 FhG-ISE CSG Solar (<2
(8/07) μm on glass)
III-V cells
GaAs (thin film cell) 28.8 ± 0.9 0.9927 1.122 29.68 86.5 NREL (5/12) Alta Devices
GaAs (multicrystalline) 18.4 ± 0.5 4.011 0.994 23.2 79.7 NREL RTI, Ge sub-
(11/95) strate
InP (crystalline cell) 22.1± 0.7 4.02 0.878 29.5 85.4 NREL (4/90) Spire, epitaxial
Thin Film Chalcogenide
CIGS (cell) 21±0.6 0.9927 0.757 35.70 77.6 FhG-ISE Solibro, on glass
(4/14)
CIGS (minimodule) 18.7±0.6 15.892 0.701c 35.29 75.6 FhG-ISE Solibro, 4 serial
(9/13) cells
CdTe (cell) 21.0 ± 0.4 1.0623 0.8759 30.25 79.4 Newport First Solar, on
(8/14) glass
CZTSSe (cell) 9.8±0.2 1.115 0.5073 31.95 60.2 Newport IMRA Europe
(4/16)
CZTS (cell) 7.6±0.1 1.067 0.6585 20.43 56.7 NREL (4/16) UNSW
Amorphous/microcrystalline
Si (amorphous cell) 10.2±0.3 1.001 0.896 16.36 69.8 AIST (7/14) AIST
Si (microcrystalline cell) 11.8±0.3 1.044 0.548 29.39 73.1 AIST (10/14) AIST
Perovskite
Perovskite (cell) 19.7±0.6 0.9917 1.104 24.67 72.3 Newport KRICT/UNIST
(3/16)
Dye sensitised
Dye (cell) 11.9±0.4 1.005 0.744 22.47 71.2 AIST (9/12) Sharp
Dye (minimodule) 10.7±0.4 26.55 0.754c 20.19 69.9 AIST (2/15) Sharp, 7 serial
cells
Dye (submodule) 8.8±0.3 398.8 0.697c 18.42 68.7 AIST (9/12) Sharp, 26 serial
cells
Organic
Organic (cell) 11.2±0.3 0.992 0.780 19.30 74.2 AIST (10/15) Toshiba
Organic (minimodule) 9.7±0.3 26.14 0.806 16.47 73.2 AIST (2/15) Toshiba (8 se-
ries cells)
Multijunction
Five junction cell (bonded) 38.8±1.2 1.021 4.767 9.564 85.2 NREL (7/13) Spectrolab
InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 37.9±1.2 1.047 3.065 14.27 86.7 AIST (2/13) Sharp
GaInP/GaInAs/Ge; Si (mini- 34.5±2 27.83 0.999 13.3/9.1 85.6/79.0 NREL (4/16) UNSW/Azur/
module) Trina
GaInP/GaAs (monolithic) 31.6±1.5 0.999 2.538 14.18 87.7 NREL (1/16) Alta Devices
a-Si/nc-Si/nc-Si (thin film) 13.6±0.4 1.043 1.901 9.92 72.1 AIST (1/15) AIST
a-Si/nc-Si (thin film cell) 12.7±0.4 1.000 1.342 13.45 70.2 AIST (10/14) AI

484 Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405

Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

Silicon solar cells typically have two layers: a SECOND-GENERATION PV

positive layer (p-type) and a negative layer (n- TECHNOLOGIES: THIN-FILM SOLAR CELLS
type). The positive layer is usually made by dop-
ing silicon with boron to create extra holes in the Second-generation solar cells are also known as
silicon lattice, and he negative layer is usually thin-film solar cells because when compared to
made by doping silicon with phosphorus to have crystalline silicon based cells they are made from
extra electrons available in the silicon lattice. layers only a few micrometers thick. After more
Working principal for the silicon solar cells is than 20 years of R&D, thin-film solar cells are be-
shown in Figure 4. ginning to be deployed in significant quantities.
Thin-film solar cells could potentially provide lower
cost electricity than c-Si wafer-based solar cells.

Figure 4: Schematic of the basic structure of a silicon solar cell. Adapted from [22].
Thin-film solar cells are comprised of succes- We have not thought about it before, most solar
sive thin layers, just 1 to 4 μm thick, of solar cells cells used in calculators and many small elec-
deposited onto a large, inexpensive substrate tronic devices are made from amorphous silicon
such as glass, polymer, or metal. Thin films can cells. Instead of growing silicon crystals as is
be packaged into flexible and lightweight struc- done in making the two previous types of solar
tures, which can be easily integrated into build- cells, silicon is deposited in a very thin layer on
ing components (building-integrated PV, BIPV). to a backing substrate – such as metal, glass or
Second generation of solar cells they account even plastic. One advantage of using very thin
around 20 % of the total panels sold in past year. layers of silicon is that the panels can be made
There are basically three primary types of thin- flexible. The disadvantage of amorphous panels
film solar cells that have been commercially de- is that they are much less efficient per unit area
veloped: (up to 12%) [12].
• Amorphous silicon (a-Si and a-Si/μc-Si); There are a few fundamental differences be-
• Cadmium Telluride (Cd-Te); and tween second-generation solar cells and first
generation solar cells. The most notable differ-
• Copper-Indium-Selenide (CIS) and Copper-
ence is the semiconductor material used in the
Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS).

Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405 485

 Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

cell has a direct band gap as opposed to the in- allows for an inherently better efficiency. CIGS
direct band gap of silicon, but these cells still rely cells have the highest efficiencies of thin film
on a p-n junction design. Thin film cells have a cells at 21.6%; CdTe cells have an efficiency of
top layer called the winder layer made of a large 21.4%, and amorphous silicon has an efficiency
band gap material that absorbs the higher energy of 11.8%. Although these thin film solar cells
photons and a bottom layer called the absorber have a lower costs and good efficiencies, they
layer made of a smaller band gap material that have some drawbacks. Most of the material that
absorbs the lower energy photons, which are these cells are made of are either becoming in-
not absorbed by the window layer. This design creasingly rare and more expensive (indium) or
are highly toxic (cadmium).

Figure 5: Schematic of the basic structure of a CIGS solar cell (a). CIGS solar cell band diagram (b). [23]

It may take several more years to solve the ing solar energy more efficient over a wider band
manufacturing problems and bring the produc- of solar energy , less expensive and without any
tion costs in line with the other leading producers toxicity so it can be used by more and more peo-
of solar panels. Because of these drawbacks, a ple, and to develop more and different uses.
different generation of solar cells has been in- Dye-sensitized solar cells are also frequently
spired. called Grätzel cells named after the developer.
DSSCs separate the absorption of photons from
THIRD-GENERATION PV TECHNOLOGIES
the energy generation. Among various solar
Due to high costs of first generation solar cells and cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) dem-
toxicity and limited availability of materials for sec- onstrate specific advantages over other photo-
ond-generation solar cells, a new generation of voltaic devices, because of their high efficiency,
solar cells emerged. Currently there is a lot of solar low cost, simple fabrication procedures, envi-
research going on in what is being referred to in ronmental friendliness, transparency, and good
the in the industry as Third-generation solar cells. plasticity. Though DSSCs perform well under
Third generation solar cells are inherently differ- laboratory conditions relative to other solar cells,
ent from the previous two generations because parameters such as efficiency, lifetime, and cost
they do not rely on the p-n junction design of the determine their commercial applications. The
others. This new generation of solar cells are be- major components of conventional DSSCs in-
ing made from variety of new materials besides clude a nanocrystalline semiconductor oxide, a
silicon, including nanomaterials, silicon wires, dye sensitizer, a redox electrolyte, and a counter
solar inks using conventional printing press tech- electrode (CE). [13,14] Recently, extensive stud-
nologies, organic dyes, and conductive plastics. ies of the individual components of DSSCs have
The goal of course is to improve on the solar been performed to reduce production costs and
cells already commercially available – by mak- to achieve high cell performance. The cell per-

486 Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405

Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

formance depends on many factors such as sur- ever, the use of liquid electrolytes causes many
face morphology, particle size, photo-electrode problems in DSSCs such as short-term stability
thickness of TiO2, and the nature of the dye. An due to organic solvent evaporation and leakage,
overall solar conversion efficiency of more than difficulty in sealing the device, electrode corro-
12% has been achieved by employing liquid sion, and limited solubility of inorganic salts such
electrolytes (I-/I-3 redox couple) in DSSCs. How- as KI, NaI, and LiI [15,16] .

Figure 6: Energy-level diagram of a DSSC. VAC = vacuum energy level, CB=conduction band, VB=valence
band
Organic or polymer solar cells were developed expected to reach USD 0.50/W by 2020.
to make a more flexible solar cell. Organic or In addition to the above-mentioned third-genera-
polymer cells are classified as such because the tion technologies, there are a number of novel
active layers of the cell are made of completely solar cell technologies under development that
organic materials. These cells can either have a bi- rely on using quantum dots/wires, quantum
layer structure or a bulk-heterojunction structure, wells, or super lattice technologies. These tech-
but the mechanism of both designs is the same. nologies are likely to be used in concentrating PV
The active layer of organic solar cells is technologies where they could achieve very high
comprised of donor and acceptor materi- efficiencies by overcoming the thermodynamic
als for charge separation and transportation. limitations of conventional (crystalline) cells.
Figure 8 illustrates the mechanism of an organic However, these high efficiency approaches are
solar cell. Organic solar cells are composed of in the fundamental materials research phase.
organic or polymer materials (such as organic Furthest from the market are the novel concepts,
polymers or small organic molecules). They often incorporating enabling technologies such
are inexpensive, but not very efficient. They are as nanotechnology, which aim to modify the ac-
emerging as a niche technology, but their future tive layer to better match the solar spectrum.
development is not clear. Their success in recent
years has been due to many significant improve- In recent years, several new thin-film PV tech-
ments that have led to higher efficiencies. OPV nologies have emerged as a result of intense
module efficiencies are now in the range 8% to research and development (R&D) efforts in ma-
10% for commercial systems. Organic cell pro- terials discovery and device engineering. These
duction uses high-speed and low- temperature technologies rely on nanostructured materials,
roll-to-roll manufacturing processes and standard or nanomaterials, which can be rationally engi-
printing technologies. As a result, organic solar neered to achieve desired optical and electronic
cells may be able to compete with other PV tech- properties. While these technologies range in
nologies in some applications, because manu- maturity from fundamental materials R&D to
facturing costs are continuing to decline and are early commercialization and have not yet been

Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405 487

 Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

deployed at large scale, they offer potentially per gram [W/g]), and novel form factors. These
unique device-level properties such as visible qualities could open the door to novel applica-
transparency, high weight-specific power (watts tions for solar PV [21]

Figure 7: Schematic of the mechanism of an organic solar cell

GLOBAL SOLAR MARKET 10.) Others in the top 10 for additions were In-
dia, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Australia,
Solar power is essential to the planet’s sustainable
France and Canada. By end-2015, every conti-
energy supply. According to the International En-
nent (except Antarctica) had installed at least 1
ergy Agency, it is on the path to becoming the larg-
GW, and at least 22 countries had 1 GW or more
est source of electricity by 2050. Solar is a clean-
of capacity. The leading national markets were
er, safer investment for our family and business.
China with 15.2 Gw, japan with 11 Gw and the
We can immediately reduce your electricity bill,
USA with just over 7 Gw. Elsewhere in Asia, the
enjoy energy independence from rising energy
largest annual market was India (2 GW), rank-
costs, and increase your home or building’s value.
ing fifth globally for additions and tenth for total
Global solar PV installation for 2015 increased
capacity. India’s year-end capacity was over 5
34% over 2014 numbers, reaching an estimated
GW. [17] In parallel, several countries contribut-
59 GW by the end of the year. [GTM research]
ed significantly to the market development with
Thanks to the massive price declines achieved
Canada, Taiwan, Netherlands and Chilli install-
in recent years and continued in 2015, solar
ing close to 500MW each. PV is progressing in
power is now broadly recognized as a cost-com-
all regions of the world. The 540 GW mark at
petitive, reliable and sustainable energy source.
global level could be reached in five year’s time,
In fact, based on its technical characteristics, PV
with the current speed.
can and should be considered a low risk invest-
ment for the financial community today. Its mar- Solar power has shown in these last years its ability
ket uptake is strongly dependent on a stable and to adapt to most climates, system sizes and regu-
forward looking regulatory framework that allows latory frameworks all over the world. The market
for the realization of the full competitive potential growth today has brought production capacities
of solar power. closer to a sustainable utilisation rate and there-
fore, with profitable companies, a new cycle of in-
In the year 2015, 50 Gw of solar power has been
vestment can start in the PV sector. This is because
connected worldwide. Once again, China, Japan
of the expected market growth in several regions.
and the United States were the top three markets,
A new cycle of investment can grow in PV sec-
followed by the United Kingdom. (p See Figure
tor.
488 Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405
Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

Solar energy is already economically viable in regions of the world. Depending on annual sun-
many applications, and will continue to expand shine, power cost of 4-5 ct/kWh is expected by
as production continues to increase in scale. 2025, reaching 2-4 ct/kWh by 2050 [Agora Ener-
Economics of scale will decrease the cost of so- giewende]. Power produced by solar photovol-
lar energy while simultaneously facilitating net taic, long known as one of the most expensive
job creation. In addition, photovoltaic energy pro- renewable energy technologies, is today cost
duction represents an environmentally beneficial competitive with both wind onshore and power
and sustainable method of maintaining an ener- generated by fossil fuels in the world. A power
gy intensive standard of living, which will enable purchase agreement for a 200 MW-solar farm
development without compromising those who in Dubai was recently signed for 5 ct/kWh (5.84
will live in the future to do the same. Increas- $ct/kWh). Projects under construction in Brazil,
ing the efficiency of a photovoltaic device is the Uruguay and other countries are reported to pro-
aim of many research and development e orts. duce at costs below 7 ct/KWh.
A higher efficiency produces the same amount Solar energy is widely available throughout the
of electrical power on a smaller area, i.e. less world and can contribute to reduced depen-
material is needed. This opens a path for reduc- dence on energy imports. Solar PV involves no
ing costs and allows for business opportunities. greenhouse gas emissions during operation and
Solar power needs a forward looking investment does not emit other pollutants (such as oxides of
and market framework just as much as the soci- sulphur and nitrogen); additionally, it consumes
ety and our economies need reliable, clean and no or little water. The PV industry has experi-
sustainable energy sources. Understanding this enced a sea change in only five years, with con-
fact will pave the way for a bright solar PV future, siderable increases in manufacturing capacities.
in Europe and globally. Market prices have been drastically reduced
– by factor of five for modules, and by a factor
COST OF SOLAR ENERGY
of almost three for systems. The global rate of
Solar photovoltaic is already today a low-cost annual new-built capacities, which was 7 GW in
renewable energy technology. Solar power will 2009, was 5 times higher in 2013.
soon be the cheapest form of electricity in many

Figure 8. Evolution of global solar PV annual installatalled capacity in [GWp]

SUMMARY often noise free. Solar photovoltaic technology

provides a technologically feasible solution to so-
For human, animals and plants solar energy is cieties current health and environmental dilem-
equally important. Solar energy is lauded as an mas posed by the reliance on fossil fuel based
inexhaustible fuel source that is pollution and power generation.
Journal of Applied Engineering Science 14(2016)4, 405 489
 Kiran Ranabhat - An introduction to solar cell technology

Solar energy is already economically viable in If photovoltaic (PV) devices could be mass pro-
many applications, and will continue to expand duced with printing presses using roll-to-roll
as production continues to increase in scale. So- (R2R) technology, as if they were newspaper or
lar PV is one of the very few low-carbon energy banknotes, they could be affordable and omni-
technologies with very high potential to grow to present. In recent years, several new PV tech-
very large scale. Based on the latest information nologies have emerged and these technologies
in PV technology it follows that: rely on nanostructured materials, or nanomateri-
als which can be easily engineered to achieve
• None industries have grown as fast or as desired optical and electrical properties which
unpredictably as the PV industry in recent may reach cost and performance targets. Focus-
years. ing on the unique features, strengths and poten-
• No single PV technology today excels in all tial applications of solar PV will help human civili-
three key technical characteristics: high pow- zation to identify golden opportunity for future PV
er conversion efficiency, low materials usage, technology development and its implementation
and low manufacturing complexity and cost. to meet the future global energy demand.

Figure 9: Past modules prices and projection to 2035 based on learning curve [18]

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