As part of the effort to increase the contribution of solar cells (photovoltaics) to our energy mix, this book addresses three main areas: making existing technology cheaper, promoting advanced technologies based on new architectural designs, and developing new materials to serve as light absorbers. Leading scientists throughout the world create a fundamental platform for knowledge sharing that combines the physics, materials, and device architectures of high-efficiency solar cells. While providing a comprehensive introduction to the field, the book highlights directions for further research, and is intended to stimulate readers’ interest in the development of novel materials and technologies for solar energy applications.

A bird's-eye view of the developmental trends and problems of recent photovoltaics is presented. The worldwide effort to develop high-efficiency low-cost PV modules, making use of most efficient solar cells and clever low-cost solar concentrators is described.

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.

Solar PV is now the third most important renewable energy source, after hydro and wind power, in terms of global installed capacity. Bringing together the expertise of international PV specialists Photovoltaic Solar Energy: From Fundamentals to Applications provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of existing PV technologies in conjunction with an assessment of technological developments. Key features: Written by leading specialists active in concurrent developments in material sciences, solar cell research and application-driven R&D. Provides a basic knowledge base in light, photons and solar irradiance and basic functional principles of PV. Covers characterization techniques, economics and applications of PV such as silicon, thin-film and hybrid solar cells. Presents a compendium of PV technologies including: crystalline silicon technologies; chalcogenide thin film solar cells; thin-film silicon based PV technologies; organic PV and III-Vs; PV concentrator technologies; space technologies and economics, life-cycle and user aspects of PV technologies. Each chapter presents basic principles and formulas as well as major technological developments in a contemporary context with a look at future developments in this rapidly changing field of science and engineering. Ideal for industrial engineers and scientists beginning careers in PV as well as graduate students undertaking PV research and high-level undergraduate students.

Photovoltaic cells provide clean, reversible electrical power from the sun. Made from semiconductors, they are durable, silent in operation and free of polluting emissions. In this book, experts from all sectors of the PV community — materials scientists, physicists, production engineers, economists and environmentalists — give their critical appraisals of where the technology is now and what its prospects are./a

Fundamentals of Solar Cells: Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion provides an introduction to the fundamental physical principles of solar cells. It aims to promote the expansion of solar photovoltaics from relatively small and specialized use to a large-scale contribution to energy supply. The book begins with a review of basic concepts such as the source of energy, the role of photovoltaic conversion, the development of photovoltaic cells, and sequence of phenomena involved in solar power generation. This is followed by separate chapters on each of the processes that take place in solar cell. These include solar input; properties of semiconductors; recombination and the flow of photogenerated carriers; charge separation and the characteristics of junction barriers; and calculation of solar efficiency. Subsequent chapters deal with the operation of specific solar cell devices such as a single-crystal homojunction (Si); a single-crystal-heterojunction/buried-homojunction (AlGaAs/GaAs); and a polycrystalline, thin-film cell (CuxS/CdS). This book is intended for upper-level graduate students who have a reasonably good understanding of solid state physics and for scientists and engineers involved in research and development of solar cells.