Solar photovoltaics are divided into thin film and crystalline silicon

How are crystalline silicon and thin-film PV solar cells compared?

Finally crystalline silicon and thin-film PV solar cells technologies were compared together from the perspective of “total factors”, “technical factors”, “economic factors” and “payback period factor”.

Are thin-film solar cells the future of PV?

It is safe to assume that thin-film solar cells will play an increasing role in the future PV market. On the other hand, any newcomer to the production scene will, for obvious reasons, have a very hard time in displacing well-established materials and technologies, such as crystalline and amorphous silicon.

What is a third type of photovoltaic technology?

A third type of photovoltaic technology is named after the elements that compose them. III-V solar cells are mainly constructed from elements in Group III—e.g., gallium and indium—and Group V—e.g., arsenic and antimony—of the periodic table. These solar cells are generally much more expensive to manufacture than other technologies.

What is thin-film silicon solar cell technology?

The thin-film silicon solar cell technology is based on a versatile set of materials and alloys, in both amorphous and microcrystalline form, grown from precursor gases by PECVD.

Is thin-film crystalline silicon a candidate for future photovoltaics?

Recent developments suggest that thin-film crystalline silicon (especially microcrystalline silicon) is becoming a prime candidate for future photovoltaics. The photovoltaic (PV) effect was discovered in 1839 by Edmond Becquerel. For a long time it remained a scientific phenomenon with few device applications.

How do thin-film solar cells work?

In thin-film solar cells, the size of the texture features must be reduced along with the absorber thickness with respect to the much thicker wafer, so that scattering and diffraction effects take place together with formation of discrete waveguide modes.