The renaissance of CdTe-based photovoltaics

Over the past several years, CdTe-based photovoltaics have undergone a revolution. CdTe is a mature PV technology, spanning over 60 years. For a decade, CdTe record cell efficiencies remained dormant at 16.7%, far behind multi-crystalline Silicon (mc-Si) as well as the competing thin film PV technology, CuInxGa1-xSe2 (CIGS). Recently, the CdTe field reawakened as multiple fundamental breakthroughs pushed the record cell efficiencies from 16.7% in 2011 to 21.0%, announced recently1. CdTe now stands as the most efficient, polycrystalline, thin-film PV system with ample room for further optimization.