Photovoltaics: Emerging role as a dominant electricity generation technology in the 21^st century

Abstract

Photovoltaics (PV) offer a unique opportunity to solve the 21st century's electricity generation problem because solar energy is essentially unlimited and PV systems provide electricity without any undesirable impact on the environment. With current technology of silicon based PV systems, volume manufacturing , appropriate business model and without any subsidy, PV electricity can be generated today at the cost of less than $0.10/Wp. Silicon based PV systems will continue to dominate the PV market. Multi-junction PV systems based on Si and other abundant materials have the potential of manufacturing the next generation of ultra-low cost PV modules. For storing PV electricity there are many directions that have the potential of providing a low-cost solution. Overall, the future of PV electricity generation for rich and poor all over the world is bright.

Innovative paths for providing green energy for sustainable global economic growth

“…Sun is the source of all energy, both fossil fuels and renewable energy. Nuclear energy is not economical for any country and no more new nuclear reactors should be constructed [11]. The use of increasingly more renewable energy sources, and increased energy efficiency can provide global economic growth.…”

“…The dominance of silicon as a PV material is in line with our prediction of 1980 [18], which was restated in 2009 [19], that abundance of raw material is a key requirement for terrestrial PV. In coming years, overall PV market will continue to increase, and the dominance of silicon PV module will also continue [11,20]. The highest possible efficiency of a single junction PV device was derived by Shockley and Queisser (SQ) [21].…”

“…In previous publications, we have demonstrated that there are fundamental mistakes in a number of schemes proposed in Table I [11,38,39]. The obvious question is -why thousands of researchers worldwide continue to work in the name of innovation without any meaningful results?…”

State of Art and FutureTrends in Photovoltaic Cells a nd Modules

“…An advantage of CdTe PV cells is a lower temperature dependence of efficiency in comparison with crystalline silicon cells and relatively low cost of technology process. On the other hand, tellur is relatively rare (and expensive) material that is a disadvantage and it is not expected CdTe can take over bulk silicon market [25].…”

Emerging role of photovoltaics for sustainably powering underdeveloped, emerging, and developed economies

“…Electricity generation by photovoltaics (PV), popularly known as solar panels, is going to revolutionize energy production in a manner similar to the role of computer chips in bringing about the information revolution. From both economic and environmental considerations, PV can provide sustained global economic growth [11][12][13][14][15][16]. The objective of this paper is to argue that PV is ready to transform the electricity infrastructure in all three types of national economies.…”