3 Review(s)

Increased production of photovoltaic (PV) energy and its rapidly growing market have resulted in reduced costs, as well as improved conversion efficiencies and reliabilities for solar systems. Much of this rapid progress has occurred because of materials advances in solar cell processing technologies over the past three decades. However, there are still many challenges ahead -challenges to further lower PV energy costs, produce stable and higher efficiency modules, and perform R&D on the next generation of solar cells and materials. Researchers review the latest advances in PV materials, device processing technology, and manufacturing tools, and to address the many research challenges that remain. The book groups technologies based on silicon, thin-film materials, and novel approaches. Topics include: crystalline silicon technologies; CdTe- and GaAs-based technologies; PV devices and module issues; metallizations, microcracks and new manufacturing initiatives; CIGS; and thin films and amorphous silicon.