State of Art and FutureTrends in Photovoltaic Cells a nd Modules

Abstract

After 40 year's development, photovoltaics has been recognized as a renewable energy technology that has the potential to contribute significantly to future energy supply. Material and solar cell and module fabrication technology see to be the most important in the field of photovoltaics, because the progress expectations in photovoltaic applications necessitate a decrease of photovoltaic cell (module) cost on the level of about 30% of today's one. Basic principles of photovoltaic cell physics and technology have been demonstrated on fabrication of crystalline silicon cells and modules, thin film cells and modules, and also new prospective technologies. The aim is to give information important for understanding basic problems of physics, construction and manufacturing photovoltaic cells and modules.