This book provides a review of all types of silicon solar cells. The scope includes monocrocrystalline Si solar cells, polycrystalline and amorphous thin-film silicon solar cells, and tandem solar cells. Production, treatment and development of these devices are reviewed. Limitations of these devices, design optimization, testing and fabrication methods are covered. In addition, current status and future prospects for the further development of silicon solar cells are addressed. Special emphasis is given to methods of attaining high efficiency and thereby cost-effective solar power. The aim of the book is to provide the reader with a complete overview about the recent advances in the structure and technology of all generations of silicon solar cells.

Photovoltaic technology has now developed to the extent that it is close to fulfilling the vision of a "solar-energy world," as devices based on this technology are becoming efficient, low-cost and durable. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of thin-film silicon, a prevalent PV material, in terms of its semiconductor nature, startin

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, which directly convert sunlight into electricity, are renewable sources of energy that are sustainable and totally inexhaustible. Emerging classes of solar PV cells have drawn considerable attention because they provide significant advantages over traditional silicon solar cells, such as low cost and attractive designs (lightweight, flexible, and portable) while exhibiting promising performance. Despite these features, certain challenges restrict the possible commercialization of these technologies. The world's leading scientists are making numerous efforts focused on bringing these promising technologies closer to commercialization. Some of these scientists provided valuable research contributions to this Special Issue on “Advances in Emerging Solar Cells” published by Nanomaterials, MDPI. This Special Issue presents 12 excellent articles, 10 research and 2 review papers, covering perovskite solar cells, heterojunction solar cells, organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and PV materials. We think that this Special Issue will attract significant attention from a broad research community including renewable energy, photovoltaic, emerging solar cells, material science and nanotechnology.

Today, the silicon feedstock for photovoltaic cells comes from processes which were originally developed for the microelectronic industry. It covers almost 90% of the photovoltaic market, with mass production volume at least one order of magnitude larger than those devoted to microelectronics. However, it is hard to imagine that this kind of feedstock (extremely pure but heavily penalized by its high energy cost) could remain the only source of silicon for a photovoltaic market which is in continuous expansion, and which has a cumulative growth rate in excess of 30% in the last few years. Even though reports suggest that the silicon share will slowly decrease in the next twenty years, finding a way to manufacture a specific solar grade feedstock in large quantities, at a low cost while maintaining the quality needed, still remains a crucial issue. Thin film and quantum confinement-based silicon cells might be a complementary solution. Advanced Silicon Materials for Photovoltaic Applications has been designed to describe the full potentialities of silicon as a multipurpose material and covers: Physical, chemical and structural properties of silicon Production routes including the promise of low cost feedstock for PV applications Defect engineering and the role of impurities and defects Characterization techniques, and advanced analytical techniques for metallic and non-metallic impurities Thin film silicon and thin film solar cells Innovative quantum effects, and 3rd generation solar cells With contributions from internationally recognized authorities, this book gives a comprehensive analysis of the state-of-the-art of process technologies and material properties, essential for anyone interested in the application and development of photovoltaics.

While measuring the effectiveness of solar cell materials may not always be practical once a device has been created, solar cell modeling may allow researchers to obtain prospective analyses of the internal processes of potential materials prior to their manufacture. Advanced Solar Cell Materials, Technology, Modeling, and Simulation discusses the development and use of modern solar cells made from composite materials. This volume is targeted toward experts from universities and research organizations, as well as young professionals interested in pursuing different subjects regarding advanced solar cells.

The world of today must face up to two contradictory energy problems: on the one hand, there is the sharply growing consumer demand in countries such as China and India. On the other hand, natural resources are dwindling. Moreover, many of those countries which still possess substantial gas and oil supplies are politically unstable. As a result, renewable natural energy sources have received great attention. Among these, solar-cell technology is one of the most promising candidates. However, there still remains the problem of the manufacturing costs of such cells. Many attempts have been made to reduce the production costs of “conventional” solar cells (manufactured from monocrystalline silicon using diffusion methods) by instead using cheaper grades of silicon, and simpler pn-junction fabrication. That is the ‘hero’ of this book; the heterojunction solar cell.