Solar cell technology

In terms of efficiency, the crystalline solar cell matches the growing needs of the worldwide photovoltaic market. The main objective of this chapter is to optimize solar cell efficiency, and the first priority is to understand the design and operation of the solar cell itself. Historically, it has been 50 years since the first operational silicon solar cell was demonstrated. However, the last 20 years have seen large improvements in the technology, with the best confirmed cell efficiency being over 24%. It has been kept in mind that to maintain the low cost of the device, it should collect all the carriers and henceforth the fill factor must be collected by metallized contacts. The shunt should be optimum so that the maximum ampere-hour of battery charging is possible in actual field applications. Other than the crystalline silicon wafer, thin-film solar cell devices are also being commercially produced. These include amorphous Si, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide. There is a significant growth in thin-film technologies, particularly due to their low-cost potential.