Editorial: Photovoltaic Materials and Devices

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2012 · International Journal of Photoenergy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/673975· OSTI ID:1047965

Sopori, B; Tan, T; Rupnowski, P

As the global energy needs grow, there is increasing interest in the generation of electricity by photovoltaics (PVs) devices or solar cells - devices that convert sunlight to electricity. Solar industry has seen an enormous growth during the last decade. The sale of PV modules has exceeded 27 GW in 2011, with significant contributions to the market share from all technologies. While the silicon technology continues to have the dominant share, the other thin film technologies (CdTe, CIGS, a-Si, and organic PV) are experiencing fast growth. Increased production of silicon modules has led to a very rapid reduction in their price and remains as benchmark for other technologies. The PV industry is in full gear to commercialize new automated equipment for solar cell and module production, instrumentation for process monitoring technologies, and for implementation of other cost-reduction approaches, and extensive research continues to be carried out in many laboratories to improve the efficiency of solar cells and modules without increasing the production costs. A large variety of solar cells, which differ in the material systems used, design, PV structure, and even the principle of PV conversion, are designed to date. This special issue contains peer-reviewed papers in the recent developments in research related to broad spectrum of photovoltaic materials and devices. It contains papers on many aspects of solar cells-the growth and deposition, characterization, and new material development.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1047965
• Journal Information: International Journal of Photoenergy, Journal Name: International Journal of Photoenergy Journal Issue: 2012 Vol. 2012
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BENCHMARKS
COMPETITION
DEPOSITION
DESIGN
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICITY
IMPLEMENTATION
MARKET
MONITORING
PRICES
PRODUCTION
SALES
SILICON
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR INDUSTRY
Solar Energy - Photovoltaics
THIN FILMS