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Polycrystalline Thin Film Photovoltaics: Reseasrch, Development, and Technologies.

DE200415007048

Publication Date	2002
Personal Author	Ullal, H. S.; Zweibel, K.; von Roedern, B.
Page Count	14
Abstract	II-VI binary thin-film solar cells based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) and I-III-VI ternary thin-film solar cells based on copper indium diselenide (CIS) and related materials have been the subject of intense research and development in the past few years. Substantial progress has been made thus far in the area of materials research, device fabrication, and technology development, and numerous applications based on CdTe and CIS have been deployed worldwide. World record efficiency of 16.5% has been achieved by NREL scientists for a thin-film CdTe solar cell using a modified device structure. Also, NREL scientists achieved world-record efficiency of 21.1% for a thin-film CIGS solar cell under a 14X concentration and AM1.5 global spectrum. When measured under a AM1.5 direct spectrum, the efficiency increases to 21.5%. Pathways for achieving 25% efficiency for tandem polycrystalline thin-film solar cells are elucidated. R&D issues relating to CdTe and CIS are reported in this paper, such as contact stability and accelerated life testing in CdTe, and effects of moisture ingress in thin-film CIS devices. Substantial technology development is currently under way, with various groups reporting power module efficiencies in the range of 7.0% to 12.1% and power output of 40.0 to 92.5 W. A number of lessons learned during the scale-up activities of the technology development for fabrication of thin-film power modules are discussed. The major global players actively involved in the technology development and commercialization efforts using both rigid and flexible power modules are highlighted.
Keywords	Research and development Photovoltaic cells Thin films Solar cells Lessons learned Technology development Testing Moisture Efficiency Polycrystalline
Source Agency	Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee
Corporate Authors	National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO.; Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Supplemental Notes	Sponsored by Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200425

Polycrystalline Thin Film Photovoltaics: Reseasrch, Development, and Technologies.

Polycrystalline Thin Film Photovoltaics: Reseasrch, Development, and Technologies.
DE200415007048

Publication Date	2002
Personal Author	Ullal, H. S.; Zweibel, K.; von Roedern, B.
Page Count	14
Abstract	II-VI binary thin-film solar cells based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) and I-III-VI ternary thin-film solar cells based on copper indium diselenide (CIS) and related materials have been the subject of intense research and development in the past few years. Substantial progress has been made thus far in the area of materials research, device fabrication, and technology development, and numerous applications based on CdTe and CIS have been deployed worldwide. World record efficiency of 16.5% has been achieved by NREL scientists for a thin-film CdTe solar cell using a modified device structure. Also, NREL scientists achieved world-record efficiency of 21.1% for a thin-film CIGS solar cell under a 14X concentration and AM1.5 global spectrum. When measured under a AM1.5 direct spectrum, the efficiency increases to 21.5%. Pathways for achieving 25% efficiency for tandem polycrystalline thin-film solar cells are elucidated. R&D issues relating to CdTe and CIS are reported in this paper, such as contact stability and accelerated life testing in CdTe, and effects of moisture ingress in thin-film CIS devices. Substantial technology development is currently under way, with various groups reporting power module efficiencies in the range of 7.0% to 12.1% and power output of 40.0 to 92.5 W. A number of lessons learned during the scale-up activities of the technology development for fabrication of thin-film power modules are discussed. The major global players actively involved in the technology development and commercialization efforts using both rigid and flexible power modules are highlighted.
Keywords	Research and development Photovoltaic cells Thin films Solar cells Lessons learned Technology development Testing Moisture Efficiency Polycrystalline
Source Agency	Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee
Corporate Authors	National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO.; Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Supplemental Notes	Sponsored by Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200425