Solar Electricity and Recent Progress in Thin Film Photovoltaics

Current methods of producing electricity from solar energy are summarized. The role of photovoltaics is described and the increasing importance of thin film technology. The photovoltaic industry is doing well over $108 worth of business in 1984 with a growth rate of about 50 % p.a. Already over 15 % of the output is in the form of thin films, practically all as amorphous hydrogenated silicon. A number of other thin film systems are being actively explored, most of them semiconductor heterojunctions, including CdS: Cu2S and CuInSe2 : CdS. The problems of durability and cost effective production are yielding under major research and development efforts on thin semiconductor films and interfaces.