Solar Cell Technology in 2018

When did solar cells become more efficient?

Incorporation of boron and phosphorous diffusions in the 1950s led to the first significant improvement of efficiencies whereas the 1980s and 1990s introduced more complex cell structures, in particular the PERC and PERL solar cells, with the PERL cell reaching an impressive efficiency of 25% in 1999 (Zhao et al. 1999).

When did solar cells become more popular?

From the 1970s onward, terrestrial applications became of more importance and so production of cheaper silicon solar cells was the main interest in the development of the solar cell industry (Szlufcik et al. 1997).

How efficient are solar cells?

The efficiency of this type of cell rapidly increased to 10% and was most commonly used in space vehicle power supplies (Goetzburger et al. 2002). The use of phosphorus-doped silicon solar cells achieved efficiencies of above 10% in 1962 (Mandelkorn et al. 1962).

How many GW of solar energy will be available in 2018?

The government is planning to introduce more than 1 GW of solar energy in the coming years. Several announcements have been made, 3 MW of utility-scale PV was operational begin of 2018, and 800 MW more had been approved.

What are the different types of solar cell technologies?

Solar cell technologies can be broadly divided as 1) solar cells based on Silicon 2) thin film solar cells 3) multijunction solar cells and 4) next generation solar cells.

Which solar cells will overtake the silicon PV market?

While the current industrial market is predominantly dominated by silicon solar cells, other photovoltaic cells (b–d) show immense promise to overtake the silicon PV market in near future. The most efficient silicon solar cell reported reaches an efficiency of over 26%.