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Photovoltaic technologies

Photovoltaic technologies
Photovoltaic technologies
Photovoltaics is already a billion dollar industry. It is experiencing rapid growth as concerns over fuel supplies and carbon emissions mean that governments and individuals are increasingly prepared to ignore its current high costs. It will become truly mainstream when its costs are comparable to other energy sources. At the moment, it is around four times too expensive for competitive commercial production. Three generations of photovoltaics have been envisaged that will take solar power into the mainstream. Currently, photovoltaic production is 90% first-generation and is based on silicon wafers. These devices are reliable and durable, but half of the cost is the silicon wafer and efficiencies are limited to around 20%. A second generation of solar cells would use cheap semiconductor thin films deposited on low-cost substrates to produce devices of slightly lower efficiency. A number of thin-film device technologies account for around 5–6% of the current market. As second-generation technology reduces the cost of active material, the substrate will eventually be the cost limit and higher efficiency will be needed to maintain the cost-reduction trend. Third-generation devices will use new technologies to produce high-efficiency devices. Advances in nanotechnology, photonics, optical metamaterials, plasmonics and semiconducting polymer sciences offer the prospect of cost-competitive photovoltaics. It is reasonable to expect that cost reductions, a move to second-generation technologies and the implementation of new technologies and third-generation concepts can lead to fully cost- competitive solar energy in 10–15 years.
0301-4215
4390-4396
Bagnall, Darren M
5d84abc8-77e5-43f7-97cb-e28533f25ef1
Boreland, Matt
93514336-b582-402a-9c3b-54ed4edcbbdf
Bagnall, Darren M
5d84abc8-77e5-43f7-97cb-e28533f25ef1
Boreland, Matt
93514336-b582-402a-9c3b-54ed4edcbbdf

Bagnall, Darren M and Boreland, Matt (2008) Photovoltaic technologies. Energy Policy, 36, 4390-4396.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Photovoltaics is already a billion dollar industry. It is experiencing rapid growth as concerns over fuel supplies and carbon emissions mean that governments and individuals are increasingly prepared to ignore its current high costs. It will become truly mainstream when its costs are comparable to other energy sources. At the moment, it is around four times too expensive for competitive commercial production. Three generations of photovoltaics have been envisaged that will take solar power into the mainstream. Currently, photovoltaic production is 90% first-generation and is based on silicon wafers. These devices are reliable and durable, but half of the cost is the silicon wafer and efficiencies are limited to around 20%. A second generation of solar cells would use cheap semiconductor thin films deposited on low-cost substrates to produce devices of slightly lower efficiency. A number of thin-film device technologies account for around 5–6% of the current market. As second-generation technology reduces the cost of active material, the substrate will eventually be the cost limit and higher efficiency will be needed to maintain the cost-reduction trend. Third-generation devices will use new technologies to produce high-efficiency devices. Advances in nanotechnology, photonics, optical metamaterials, plasmonics and semiconducting polymer sciences offer the prospect of cost-competitive photovoltaics. It is reasonable to expect that cost reductions, a move to second-generation technologies and the implementation of new technologies and third-generation concepts can lead to fully cost- competitive solar energy in 10–15 years.

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More information

Published date: 2008
Organisations: Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 267716
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/267716
ISSN: 0301-4215
PURE UUID: c3e23edf-3f0c-40e8-85fb-4c515b7359d8

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Date deposited: 29 Jul 2009 10:41
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 08:56

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Contributors

Author: Darren M Bagnall
Author: Matt Boreland

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