Recent developments in photovoltaics

The photovoltaic market is booming with over 30% per annum compounded growth over the last five years. The government-subsidised urban–residential use of photovoltaics, particularly in Germany and Japan, is driving this sustained growth. Most of the solar cells being supplied to this market are ‘fir...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy 2004, Vol.76 (1), p.3-8
Main Author: Green, M.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Innovations
Natural energy
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic conversion
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The photovoltaic market is booming with over 30% per annum compounded growth over the last five years. The government-subsidised urban–residential use of photovoltaics, particularly in Germany and Japan, is driving this sustained growth. Most of the solar cells being supplied to this market are ‘first generation’ devices based on crystalline or multi-crystalline silicon wafers. ‘Second generation’ thin-film solar cells based on amorphous silicon/hydrogen alloys or polycrystalline compound semiconductors are starting to appear on the market in increasing volume. Australian contributions in this area are the thin-film polycrystalline silicon-on-glass technology developed by Pacific Solar and the dye sensitised nanocrystalline titanium cells developed by Sustainable Technologies International. In these thin-film approaches, the major material cost component is usually the glass sheet onto which the film is deposited. After reviewing the present state of development of both cell and application technologies, the likely future development of photovoltaics is outlined.
ISSN:0038-092X
1471-1257
DOI:10.1016/S0038-092X(03)00065-3