Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials Online ISSN 2092-7592

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REVIEW PAPER

Photovoltaic Review of all Generations: Environmental Impact and Its

Market Potential
Rashmi Chawla1 · Poonam Singhal2 · Amit Kumar Garg2

Received: 17 April 2020 / Revised: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 27 June 2020

© The Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers 2020

Abstract
With the technology and innovation rising at its peak, the demand for energy has increased exponentially. To cater this,
researchers are persistently exploring ways to fulfil this deficit between demand and supply. One of the feasible solutions is
the use of energy from renewable resources such as Solar Energy due to its abundance availability and easy accessibility.
Seeing it’s trans formative potential to address growing concerns about environment, pollution and sustainable energy inte-
gration, there is an intemperate research going on in developing highly efficient Photovoltaic Cells (PVC). The PVC’s are
effectuated to convert solar energy from the sunlight directly to electrical energy. Furthermore, the PVC has gone through
various generations with the aim to optimise its cost/watt of delivered solar electricity and efficiency of solar cell. This paper
is an effort to compare all the generations which PVC has undergone and the recent advancements in this area. The results
of this research study will be fruitful for researchers working in this direction.

Keywords AM 1.5G · Fill factor · Photovoltaic technologies · Solar energy · Solar cell

1 Introduction • Environmental Hazard: The mining of non-renewable

energy a big damage to the environment.
A sharp distinct increase in consumption of energy is seen in
recent past. It is estimated that by the year 2030, the world The burning of fossil fuels results in production of toxic
consumption will grow up by 50% [1]. This increase in high gases like sulphur dioxide and greenhouse gases which result
demand of energy has forced the researchers to search new in acid rain and global warming.
ways to match the growing demand for energy. Currently As these non-renewable resources are not sustainable
these requirements are filled using two ways: Renewable in use (formation takes billions of years) and are being
and Non Renewable Energy Resources (as shown in Fig. 1a). depleted at a high rate [1, 2]; renewable sources need to
Although being affordable the latter cannot be replenished replace them. Among the renewable energy options, solar
at sufficient rate and concern over sustainability of these energy has proved to be a better solution to its counter-
resources has arisen while the former can be used repeatedly vail; one of the reason being energy conversion process
since it is replaced naturally. The non-renewable resources is simplest (as shown in Fig. 1b). The total amount of
face the following disadvantages when compared to renew- sun’s energy 3,850,000EJ is approximately absorbed by
able resources. earth’s atmosphere [3], land and oceans which corresponds
to 8000 times the overall energy consumed by the whole
• Revitalization: The non-renewable resources will soon world [3]. This solar energy cannot be used directly but
extinct as they are depleted at a very high pace. has to be converted into electricity for its daily usage. For
this purpose solar PVC’s are used. A solar PVC system
* Rashmi Chawla can be constructed to any size in accordance to energy
rashmichawlaymca@[Link] requirements [4]. Furthermore, depending upon the energy
change needed, the owner of a PVC system can enlarge
1
Department of Electronics Engineering, J.C. Bose University or move it. The major disadvantage of these devices is its
of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad, India
cost and conversion efficiency [3, 4]. Researchers are mak-
2
Department of Electronics Engineering, Deenbandhu ing lot of effort in studying the technologies to improve
University of Science and Technology, Murthal, India

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 Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

a Energy

Non-Renewable Renewable

• Solar Energy
• Petroleum • Wind Power
• Coal • Wave and Tidal
• Natural Gas Power
• Electricity • Geo Thermal
• Oil Energy
• Nuclear Fuel • Hydropower

b Various forms of Renewable Energies and Energy Conversion Processes

Sun’s Radiang Energy

Gravita onal Nuclear Radia ng heat Radia ng heat Photovoltaic Effect

Turbine Fission/Decay Thermal Thermal Electric

Kine c Thermal Gravita onal Convec on

Evapora on/precipi
Generator Turbine Turbine
ta on

Electric Kine c Turbine Kine c

Generator Kine c Generator

Electric Generator Electric

Electric

Fig. 1  a Various Non-renewable and renewable energy resources. b Various renewable energy resources with energy conversion process [2]

these parameter constraints of single junction solar PVCs This paper reviews a cumulative development through
and coming up with new solar architectures capable of four generation journey of solar PVC. It gives a critical tech-
absorbing larger solar spectrum [5]. The concern areas nology review into all the generations of solar PVC in its
to be focused for research on Solar PVC technology are current and plausible future forms; considering most of the
based on four goals: (i) achieving better Power Conversion well-defined materials.
Efficiencies (PCE) (ii) the environment impact and (iii) This paper is compiled as follows: Sect. 2 elucidates the
reduced manufacturing cost and complexity (iv) power basic working of solar PVC and Sect. 3 reviews solar PVC
storage as solar energy is not available 24*7. Consider- technology options, including both the Si-based technolo-
ing these focus areas there has been lot of research done gies (which are well established) and emerging alternatives
at national and international level on solar PVC to find (sill on research grounds). This section also focuses on
opportunities that can enhance efficiency of the photo- technical characteristics that play vital role in different PV
voltaic device [5]. applications.

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The recent technology trends discussed in Sect. 3 gives a modules is called solar PVC array. If a 10 m2 Solar PVC
brief description of upcoming R&D technologies that claim array is considered then theoretically its efficiency equal to
to support higher PCE and cost efficient solar PVC alterna- 10 km2 array. This is in incongruity with other renewable
tive. Section 4 discusses various parameters which effect resources like wind turbines, hydro and thermal generators
performance metrics of solar PVC; followed by results, which lose efficiency with reduction of size [8].
future expectation and conclusions.
2.1 Working Principle of Solar PVC

2 Solar Photo Voltaic Cell The Solar PVC working can be enlisted in following steps
and is represented in Fig. 2 with how energy from sun flows
Solar PVC is basically a p–n diode based on the principle to output load through panel.
of photovoltaic effect [6] that converts Sun’s light energy
into direct current by the photovoltaic effect [6]. This effect • At first photons (packets of energy) in sunlight smashes
can be defined as the generation of charge carriers in a light the solar PVC in panel and are then absorbed by photoac-
absorbing material when the light radiation is incident on tive semiconductor materials in the cell [9]. The energy
it [7]. The generation of charge carries actually happens equation Eq. (1) of the absorbed photon is given in by
when the light energy of Sun which compromises packets E = hc∕𝜆 = hv (1)
of energy smashes off loose electron of a semiconductor
material (e.g. Si) and the electric field is created. This elec- where E is defined as the photon energy, h as Planck’s
tric field created drives the electron in the semiconductor in constant (equal to ~ 6.6 × 10−34 Joule-s), c as the speed
orderly manner [6, 7] resulting in electric current to flow. of light (equal to ~ 3.0 × 108 meters per second), λ as the
The electrical connection (series or parallel) of no. of solar photon wavelength, and v as the photon frequency [9,
PVC’s are called a solar module. The combination of solar 10].

Fig. 2  a Working principle of

solar PVC. b Basic structure of
solar PVC

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• The electrons of this semiconductor material now get Considering voltage V is applied across the terminals
excited from their current molecular/atomic orbital and (Fig. 3a), SQ’s p–n junction theory [16] reveals exponential
are called excitons. This exciton can now be categorized increase in the carrier concentration with qV/kT close to the
in one of the three working mechanism: (i) it either dis- junction (with kT/q, the thermal voltage ­VT = 26.692 mV at
sipates the energy as heat (as in case of thermal-applica- ideal 25 °C) [10].
tions) (ii) return to its orbital (recombination mechanism) ( qV )
(iii) highly energized so that it can travel through the IT = I0 e kT − 1 − IL
solar PVC to reach an electrode (photo-voltaic effect).
Solar PVC employs the third mechanism and due to these The Solar PVC has proved itself to be one of the most
photo-voltaic effect current flows through the material upcoming renewable source energy technologies. The photo
to cancel the potential and the electricity so produced is voltaic material used faces some technical challenges which
captured [10]. The chemical bonds of the semiconductor need to be organized. The stratification of solar PVC estab-
photovoltaic material paramount for this process to work. lished in 2001 structures this technology in four “genera-
• An array of solar PVCs called solar panel converts this tions” on the basis of PCE and cost [10]. According to this
solar energy into Direct Current (DC) electricity which organization the “Third generation” will always be better
then using an inverter is converted to alternating current than the “first generation.”
(AC) [11] as depicted in Fig. 2a. The basic structure of The next section reviews current solar PVC technologies
solar PVC is elaborated in Fig. 2b. categorized generation wise and the subsequent sections
explore various performance metrics and materials imple-
2.1.1 Specification of a Polycrystalline Solar PV Module mented in that generation. The goal of the four generation
of solar PVC is to make solar energy more productive over
A typical Silicon (Si) PV module shown in Fig. 2 com- a broad band of solar spectrum (e.g., including infrared),
promises various layer; the top most layer of glass sheet is cost effective so that it can reach more and more people, and
used for mechanical support and protection [12]. To pro- more and more applications can be developed.
tect it from moisture and ultraviolet (UV) radiations it is
overlay with an encapsulated layer of ethylene vinyl acetate
(EVA). A solar module consists of approx. 60 to 72 indi- 3 Solar PVC Generation
vidual 6-inch-square (15-cm-square) solar PVCs, arranged
in series or parallel. A single cell under peak illumination is Solar PVC technologies have crossed three generations; lot
capable of producing 4–5 watts; at the back it is protected by of research work is still going on in its fourth generation
a fluoropolymer sheet; and an aluminium frame is used for [17]. The four generations shown in Fig. 4 depending upon
mounting purpose. Standard Si PV module facet parameters the fabrication technology used and light absorbing mate-
are 1 m/1.5 m/4 cm, with output power ratings approx. rang- rial, can be further categorized depending upon substrate in
ing from 260 to 440 W [12]. the form of:

2.2 Solar PVC Parameters • Crystalline Silicon (Wafer based)

• Thin Film
While selecting solar PVC for a particular application its • Emerging thin films
performance metrics should be known. To understand the
performance metrics of a Solar PVC [13] its output param- The sections below is a detailed study on various genera-
eters (discussed in detail in Table 1), current and voltage tions of solar cell and the technology and research associated
characteristics should be known. The short circuit current with various output parameters like efficiency, cost and size.
in solar PVC depends upon the surface area which is illumi-
nated and thereby is termed as short circuit current density 3.1 First Generation of Solar PVC–Crystalline Silicon
­(Jsc). The open circuit voltage (­ Voc) and short circuit current
­(Isc) are measured between the (+)ve and (−)ve terminals of First generation of solar PVC was developed in 1958 [18].
the solar PVC as shown in Fig. 3a. This was made up of Si with band gap of 1.1 eV [18]. In
The positive and negative terminal connection in solar a Crystalline Silicon(C-Si) solar PVC or also termed as
PVC and its load connection can be understood by Fig. 3a. first generation of solar PVC, basic structure subsists of an
The solar PVC parameters can also be determined from the n-type Si semiconductor layer (which acts as emitter layer)
dark and illuminated I–V characteristics as shown in Fig. 3b. and p-type semiconductor layer (which acts as base layer).
These characteristics vary in accordance to the material The p–n junction is thus formed by sandwiching these two
used in active layer and thus affecting its output efficiency. layers [18, 19]. To avoid loss of incident light energy due

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 Table 1  Parameters effecting performance metrics of Solar cell
Parameter Definition Expected value Factors affecting the parameter

Short circuit current ­(Isc) Considering the electrodes of the solar PVC short For ideal PVC with average resistive losses, ­Isc and The ­Isc is affected due to recombination which results
circuited, the current flows through the external the light-generated current are identical [14] in loss of photo-generated charge carriers [14]
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

circuit called ­Isc Lower band gap materials are efficient to absorb large
part of the spectrum and thereby yield higher output
current [14]
Thickness of material
Open circuit voltage(Voc) When zero current flows through the external circuit The higher PCE in solar PVC photoactive materials Temperature
at a certain voltage, is called open circuit voltage like germanium, Si and gallium arsenide with V­ oc Doping concentration
[16] 245, 706 and 1020 mV, with their respective band-
I
VOC = nkT q
ln ISC + 1 (Eq. 2) gaps of 0.67, 1.12 and 1.43 eV are considered [15]
( )
O
where
Io = dark saturation current, ­Isc = short circuit current,
q = charge, N = Ideality factor, K = Boltzmann
constant, T = Temperature
Fill factor(FF) It is the ratio between the maximum power generated The FF has a value around 80% for a normal Si PVC The series resistance ­(Rs) of the solar PV diode
­Pmax and the product of ­Voc and ­Isc [14] [15] The parallel or shunt resistance (­ Rsh) of the solar PV
P
FF = V maxI diode
oc sc
Where ­Pmax = Vmax*Imax The recombination rate in the space charge region of
the PVC
The reverse saturation current ­(Jo) of the p–n junction
Conversion efficiency It is the ratio between ­Pmax and the incident power Using an AM 1.5 solar spectrum: Shockley Quisser Temperature
­(Pin) [14, 15] (SQ) limit defines maximum PCE of solar PVC Thickness of material
as 33.7% considering a single p-n [8–15] junction Isc
(band gap of 1.34 eV) [15] Voc
FF

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 Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

Fig. 3  a Open circuit voltage

and short circuit current are
measurement between the posi-
tive and negative terminals of V
the solar PVC. b I-V character-
istics of Solar PVC in dark and
light conditions

(a)

Dark Illumination

Vm V
Voc
Im

Isc Max. Power

Point

FF= = /

(b)

to reflection the uppermost surface of solar PVC is coated

Mono-crystalline with thin anti-reflection coating. This loss of energy is due to
First
Silicon reflection of light radiations. This is the oldest and the most
Generaon
popular technology due to its high PCE [19]. The industry
Poly-crystalline
product of C-Si modules began long back in 1963 by Japan
Silicon
Corporation which installed a 242 W PV [20] module on
CIGS a light house, one of the world’s largest commercial PV
installations during that time. C-Si solar PVC accounted for
CdTe
Second about 90% of global PV sales in 2017 [20]. It can be further
Solar PVC
Generaon Amorphous divided into two main categories:
Silicon
• Mono-crystalline silicon solar PVC
GaAs
• Poly-crystalline silicon solar PVC

CZTS
3.1.1 Mono‑crystalline Silicon Solar PVC
Third
DSSC
Generaon
The mono-crystalline solar PVCs are sliced from a large
Organic Solar Cell single crystal which is then grown under carefully con-
trolled conditions. They are also for the same reason called
Quantum single C-Si. These cells are manufactured by czochral-
Fourth Dots ski process. In this process, boron is uniformly diffused
Generaon to silicon wafer to form the p-type semiconductor. Then
Perovskite phosphorous is uniformly doped into this semiconduct-
ing material to form a p–n junction. Due to this uniform
Fig. 4  Four generations of solar PVC deposition of layers to each other this PV device has come

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Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

closer to theoretical PCE around 33.16% [21]. The top 3.1.3 Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC) Solar PVC
surface of the cell needs an Anti-reflective Coating (ARC)
due to shiny property of Si which can result in light reflec- The Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC) solar PVC was
tion. To avoid loss of incident light the surface needs to first developed in University of New South Wales around
be covered with thin (micron size) pyramid shape struc- 1980s by Martin Green and his research team [28, 29].
tures (textured surface) to reduce reflection losses. The Under this technology addition of extra layer at rear side
solar PV commercial module on textured surface uses an of solar PVC was proposed as a twostep procedure to back
ARC of silicon nitride (SiNx) or titanium oxide (TiOx) to surface field [30]: Step (i) application of rear surface pas-
further reduce reflection losses [22]. The expected lifes- sivation film; Step (ii) usage of lasers/chemicals for creation
pan of these cells is typically 25–30 years [21–24]. The of tiny pockets by opening rear passivation stack so that
C-Si single junction(rear junction) terrestrial cell recently more solar light can be absorbed. Although the addition of
have shown 26.3 ± 0.5% efficiency on designated illumi- these steps is an extra effort but output efficiency is stipu-
nated area of 180.43 cm2 as tested in Fraunhofer Germany lated threefold as the recombination rate gets considerably
Institute for Solar Energy Systems (FhG-ISE) lab on July reduced, photon absorption is high and increase in internal
2016 [24]. The C-Si terrestrial module (108 cells) with reflectivity is observed. The passivation layer at the rare side
24.4 ± 0.5% efficiency on 13,177 cm2 designated illumi- of solar PVC turned to be an efficacious methodology to
nated area was confirmed by Advanced Industrial Science capture unabsorbed light by reflecting it back for second
and Technology (AIST) on September 2016 under the absorption attempt resulting in optimum output yield. The
global AM 1.5 spectrum (1000 W/M2) [24]. The tempera- PERC solar PVC from top to rear layers can be consolidated
ture of the solar PVC module and single junction cell was as below:
optimized at 25 °C.
• Contacts: silver screen printed paste
• Anti-Reflective Coating (ARC) layer
3.1.2 Poly‑crystalline Silicon Solar PVC • Photovoltaic material: Si wafers with phosphorous dif-
fused, boron doped to form the P–N junction
Polycrystalline solar PVCs are made by coupling of large • Back Surface Field: aluminium back surface field
number of crystals called crystallites resulting in a metal • Protective Layer: screen printed aluminium paste
flake effect. As such poly-Si and multi-Si are synonyms, but
multi C-Si usually refers to crystals bigger than 1 mm. Si Table 2 below enlists merits and demerits of first genera-
wafer from multiple Si crystal is used rather than Si wafer tion Solar PVC and a comparison of different materials used
from a single Si crystal under tightly controlled growth con- in first generation.
ditions; this results in a cheaper production mechanism in The first generation which still covers the highest global
comparison to mono-crystalline solar PVC. They are con- market till now, with its good outdoor performance and
structed from square Si substrates which are cut from poly- lifetime; faces a drawback in terms of cost and size. These
crystalline ingots and are grown in quartz crucibles. The drawbacks were one of the main working grail for second
production of these cells is more economical in comparison generation solar cell. The second generation is discussed in
to mono-crystalline solar PVC but cannot compete with the the subsequent section.
PCE. The low efficiency is the result of defects which occur
on surface due to crystal structures formed as a result of 3.2 Second Generation Solar PVC: Thin films
hardening. These defects reduce the efficiency [24], the lab
efficiency of 18% to 27% have been reported for this cell. A First generation solar cell comes up with high efficiency
requirement of five tons poly-Si is needed in manufacturing and the disadvantage of increased cost. This results in
conventional solar PVC modules with 1 megawatt (MW) the need of removing unnecessary material especially in
output [25]. active layer which generated the idea of thin film second
The multi C-Si single junction terrestrial cell recently generation solar cells. This generation used less mate-
have shown 21.3 ± 0.4% efficiency on total area of rial while maintaining the appropriate efficiency of cell.
242.74 cm2 as tested in FhG-ISE lab on July Nov 2015 The thin film solar PVC technology uses 1–10 µm [31]
[26]. The multi C-Si terrestrial module (120 PVCs) with of photo active layer and is more efficient than C-Si in
19.9 ± 0.4% efficiency on 15,143 cm2 designated illuminated absorbing the solar energy. The production of thin films
area was confirmed by FhG-ISE on October 2016 under the based second generation solar PVC involves vacuum
global AM 1.5 spectrum (1000 W/M2) [27]. The tempera- processes which requires high temperature that leads to
ture of the solar PVC module and single junction cell was the high energy consumption. This generation of solar
optimized at 25 °C. cells discourages the use of Si. These provide the typical

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Table 2  Comparative study of first generation Solar PVC [CHECK7]

Material Mono-crystalline Poly-crystalline

Substrate thickness 160–240 μm [22] 160–240 μm [22]

Manufacturing process Czochralski process float-zone By metallurgical grade Si via a chemical purification process,
Bridgman techniques called the Siemens process
By pyrolysis method in which silane (­ SiH4) is chemically
decomposed at very high temperatures (580 to 650 °C) [24]
Max Indirect band gap Depending upon crystallization structure
Absorption range Si-1.12 eV or 1107 nm (infrared spectrum of light)
Crystalline silicon has a direct transition of 3.4 eV or
364 nm (blue spectrum of light) [23]
Efficiency in Lab [9] 27.6% [24] 23.4% [25]
Merits and demerits Highest efficiency Less time for production
Material (Si) used for fabrication is abundant Lower costs
Highly standardized process for production Material (Si) used for fabrication is abundant
Highly expensive Highly standardized process for production
Lot of Si wastage—as wafers are sawed from Si ingots Probability of defects is more
Less efficient than mono-crystalline as recombination takes
place at defect sites

performance range of 10–15% [31]. These cells use scarce 3.2.2 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide
elements which act as limiting factor in cost (Table 3).
Materials used in thin film solar cells are: The CIGS thin film solar PVC is a combination of copper,
indium, gallium, selenide. These are manufactured by the
• Cadmium Telluride(CdTe) deposition of thin layer of copper, indium, gallium and sele-
• Copper Indium Gallium Selenide(CIGS) nide on a glass substrate along with two electrodes. Sputter-
• Amorphous-Si (a-Si) ing, electrochemical coating, electron beam deposition are
• Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) some of the processing techniques for CIGS because these
materials have high sunlight absorption capacity [38]. CIGS
provide long life with minimum degradation. The efficiency
3.2.1 Cadmium Telluride for CIGS solar cell is above 15% and a share 2% in overall
PV market [38, 39]. It is among the most promising semi-
In CdTe thin film solar PVC tellurium and cadmium are conductors materials in thin film technologies which provide
combined, to produce cadmium telluride (CdTe) and is high efficiency and low cost. Furthermore, CIGS thin film
predominant in thin film technology [32]. They are able solar cells also provide excellent outdoor stability and power.
to absorb large amount of light i.e. almost 90% of solar Although it is less expensive and light weight but its poor
spectrum [32, 33]. They are cheap to produce but are indoor performance and emission of toxic material [40, 41]
less reliable than a-Si solar cell. Polycrystalline thin film hinders its application in large scale in PV cell industry. The
CdTe is the leading material in the solar cell market [33]. CIGS mini module terrestrial PVC have shown 18.7 ± 0.6%
The CdTe cells provide ideal band gap of 1.5 eV for good efficiency on total area of 15.892 cm2 as tested in FhG-ISE
conversion efficiency. Although cadmium is a low toxic lab on September 2013 [42]. The CIGS (Cd free) terrestrial
material but rarity of tellurium of which telluride is an module with 17.5 ± 0.5% efficiency on 808 cm2 designated
anionic form is the key drawback in use of CdTe in solar illuminated area was confirmed by AIST on June 2014 under
industry [34, 35]. The CdTe solar PVC terrestrial cell the global AM 1.5 spectrum (1000 W/M2) [43]. The tem-
recently have shown 21.0 ± 0.4% efficiency on aperture perature of the solar PVC module and single junction cell
area of 1.0623 cm 2 as tested in Newport lab on August was optimized at 25 °C.
2014 [36]. The CdTe terrestrial module (thin film) with
18.6 ± 0.4% efficiency on 7038.8 cm2 aperture area was 3.2.3 Amorphous Silicon
confirmed by NREL on April 2015 under the global AM
1.5 spectrums (1000 W/M2) [37]. The temperature of the The two above mentioned thin film technologies CdTe and
solar PVC module and single junction cell was optimized CIGS are chalcogenide-based thin films cells. They can
at 25 °C. be successfully fabricated in labs but still industry of PV

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 Table 3  Comparative study of second generation Solar PVC
CdTe CIGS a-Si GaAs HJ
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

Material Compound of Tellurium and Compound of copper, indium, Silicon Compound of gallium and Silicon
cadmium Gallium and Tin arsenide
Layer thickness 1 µm [36] Less than 1 micrometre [42] 0.2–0.5 micrometre [48] 0.1 micrometre [57] 165 micrometre [57]
Manufacturing process Fast film deposition and evap- Sputtering [38–40] Sputtering or chemical vapour Epitaxial lift-off (ELO) Deposition of a-Si:H and/or
oration methods [32–34] deposition [44, 45] [54–57] μc-Si:H layers by PECVD
process at a temperature
below 250 °C
Max Direct band gap material with Direct band gap material with Indirect band gap material Direct band gap material Dependent on material
Absorption range Photon absorption frequency Photon absorption frequency with with Photon absorption
1.02–1.68 eV [37] 1.45 eV [39] Photon absorption frequency frequency 1.42 eV [54]
1.1–1.7 eV [44]
Efficiency in Lab 20–23% [39, 40] 17.5% [42, 43] 11–15% [48, 49] 28.8% [54] 26% [59]
Advantages and disadvantages No Staebler-Wronski effect, No Staebler-Wronski effect, Staebler-Wronski effect and No Staebler-Wronski effect, Low cost and low temperature
stability is good stability is good poor stability stability is good requirement
Shortage of Cd and Te will be Shortage of Sn and In will be No shortage of silicon High efficiency
a problem for mass produc- a problem for mass produc- Absorption of light can be
tion tion improved by using tandem
Te and Cd are toxic and pose Cd buffer layer is toxic and cell structure
a problem for household is a problem for household
applications applications

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looks forward to silicon-based thin film cells as it shows less which results in deep defects (energy levels in the band
issues than their countervail thin film in terms of toxicity and gap) [50] as well as deformation of the valence and con-
humidity and low manufacturing yields [44]. duction bands (band tails) [50, 51].
Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) is a nontoxic material used in
making of non-crystalline solar cell where atoms of sili- • Thin-film Polycrystalline Silicon (poly-Si) on glass:
con are randomly distributed within the structure. Catalytic This technology aims to blends the merits of bulk Si
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Plasma-Enhanced with thin-film devices considering glass as the base
Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD), sputtering are some resulting in low cost high quality photovoltaic mate-
of the processing techniques [21] used for a-Si solar cell. An rial. The fabrication methodology with electron beam
a-Si solar PVC is fabricated by using the continuous vapor evaporation is used as a deposition technique which is
deposition technique over a silicon substrate keeping tem- cheaper than PECVD [52] to produce these modules.
perature critically low and can be easily deposited on very The electron beam deposition technique results in non-
large glass substrates (up to 5.7 m2) making process cost conformal uneven surface deposition due to which tex-
effective [44–47]. These cells consist of p-i-n layers which tured substrate becomes a necessity and is not an easy
degrade the cell performance when exposed to sunlight. In task. The methodology involves deposition of antire-
order to achieve better stability, thinner layers must be used. flection coating (reducing light reflection from the
Ensuing its properties of light weight and flexibility there are solar PVC) and doped Si onto textured glass substrates
many companies that have focused on development of a-Si (e.g.: patterned Indium tin oxide). The texturing of the
modules which are apt product for flat and curved surfaces. glass increases the light trapping thereby effectively
The module efficiencies of a-Si module are in the range 4% enhancing the PCE of the solar PVC [53]. Another rea-
to 10% [42]. Very small cells at laboratory level may reach son for low cost poly-Si solar modules is the absence
PCE of 13.2% [45]. The a-Si microcrystalline solar PVC of a Transparent Conducting Oxide (TCO) layer. Its
recently have shown 11.8 ± 0.3% efficiency on total area of absence not only benefits the production process as it
1.044 cm2 as tested in AIST lab on October 2014 [46, 47]. is bypassed, but the absence of this layer enhances the
The fabrication techniques employed to improve existing contact mechanism making direct contacts. Not with
PCE of a-Si are: standing with the advantages, poly-Si has still lot of
scope for research in this field.
• Tandem Cells: It employs combination of various layers
of Si allotropes with a-Si layer resulting in multi-junction
solar PVC. Further these tandem cells can be stacked 3.2.4 Gallium Arsenide Thin Film PVCs
with multi crystalline silicon (μc-Si) or proto-crystalline
silicon (pc-Si) to yield better results. The a-Si tandem The other photoactive semiconductor alternative for
solar PVC recently have shown 12.3 ± 0.3% efficiency single-crystalline thin film solar PVC is gallium arse-
on total area of 14.322 cm2 as tested in FSTI lab on Sep- nide (GaAs). This single junction solar PVC device has a
tember 2014 [48] record efficiency of 28.8% but with the drawback of high
cost [54]. GaAs based solar PVC possess n (emitter)-on-p
Using a-Si/μc-Si: As a solution to above mentioned stum- (base) or p-on-n structural organization. The later faces
bling blocks faced by thin film, tandem or multi-junction low PCE in comparison to former; as in case of n on p fab-
micromorph solar PVC has emerged as a panacea. Micro- rication electron penetrates deep resulting in low recom-
morph solar PVCs are based on a multi-junction architecture bination rate and high diffusion length as it goes through
and incorporate two solar PVCs which are stacked on top of p-type base region whereas p on n endure low diffusion
each other. While the thin a-Si top cell efficiently absorbs length [54–57]. The fabrication cost is the hindrance in
the blue light of solar spectrum, red and near-infrared light fabrication of n on p Ga As solar PVC. GaAs based multi-
gets absorbed by the thicker microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si) junction solar PVC modules have wide area of applications
bottom cell improving the overall cell’s PCE [49]. Since the like spacecraft’s and concentrator photovoltaic. Most com-
photoactive material in all layers is Si PECVD can be used; mon solar PVC configuration used solar panels on space-
it result in the production of micromorph thin-films up to craft’s is (InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge cells) with high PCE and
1.4 m2 [49]. cost [61]. Their application in concentrator photovolta-
Using a-Si/pc-Si: a-Si can also be stacked with pc-Si ics’ (GaAs concentrator solar cell), uses lenses to focus
for tandem-cell. The use pc-Si layer with a low volume solar radiations and reduces cost. The GaAs thin film solar
fraction of nano-crystalline Si is preferred for high V ­ oc. PVC have shown 28.8 ± 0.9% efficiency on aperture area
These types of silicon present dangling and twisted bonds, of 0.9927 cm2 as tested in NREL lab on May 2012 [57].

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3.2.5 Heterojunction (HJ) Solar PVCs Their high production cost limits its commercial application.
Polymer solar cells or plastic solar cells, has emerged as a
The wafer based crystalline solar PVC has influenced PV simple, quick and inexpensive large-scale organic option;
market from 2008 featuring good efficiency and long life as the use of polymer photoactive materials makes it readily
time. However, expensive wafers and high temperature available and potentially inexpensive. In comparison to first
requirement remains the main stumbling block for wafer- and second generation the third generation solar PVCs usage
based c-Si solar PVCs. As a solution to the aforementioned is limited; but researchers believe in its great potential and
predicaments HJ solar PVC has proved to be a promising more devices are still in progress.
low cost, low temperature and low material consumption An a-Si or GaAs contribute as the layers of the multi-
solution. The output efficiency reported of heterojunction layered structure of common third-generation systems;
solar cell at industrial production level is above 20% [58]. many researchers have proposed frequency conversion in
Some researchers have claimed output efficiency over 26% solar cell. The wavelength conversion enables usage of light
designated area of 180.4 cm2 []. The explication in output that the solar cell cannot absorb to light spectra that it can
yield is due to highly recombination active metal contacts utilize, these results in more output power. The use of hot-
and diffused junction cells that are electronically isolated carrier effects and other multiple-carrier ejection techniques
from absorber with the insertion of wider bandgap material are also used to enhance PCE.
layer. This enhances open circuit voltage in the heterojunc- Emerging third generation Solar PVC includes:
tion devices without employing any patterning technique.
In order to provide effective light trapping this technique • Copper zinc tin sulfide solar PVC (CZTS), and derivate
employs random patterning of n-type c-Si wafer. The pas- CZTSe and CZTSSe
sivation steps involve deposition of a-Si:H on both sides • Dye-sensitized solar PVC, also known as “Grätzel cell”
of c-Si wafer, with deposition of P-type a-Si:H as emitter • Organic solar PVC
on one side and n-type a-Si:H on the other side to form the
Back-Surface Field (BSF). To improve the carrier transport 3.3.1 Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide (CZTS)
to the contacts in a cell TCO layer is added [59]. The fabrica-
tion steps involve deposition of a-Si:H and/or μc-Si:H layers CZTS are basically thin film based solar cells. The other
in a PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) thin film solar PVC’s GaAs and CdTe contain toxic ele-
process at a temperature below 250 °C [58–60]. ments (cadmium and arsenic) and CIGS system contains
In consideration of the second generation solar PVCs rare indium elements. Thus, these two types of solar cells
which aims at low material consumption excessive use of cannot meet the future commercialization aspects. CZTS is
Si wafers is avoided. This reduces production costs of these the direct band gap photoactive material with a high absorp-
types of solar PVCs in comparison to the first generation. tion coefficient and a multilayer structure; thus, it can be
However, the industry still rely on first generation as the employed in the absorption layer of thin film solar cells and
production of second generation solar PVCs still include it provides a band gap of 1.50 eV which is very close to the
vacuum processes and high temperature treatments, which best band gap required by semiconductors devices which
results in large energy consumption. Further, the second thin is 1.35 eV [60, 61]. CZTS is expected to become the ideal
film generation solar PVCs are based on scarce elements absorption layer [61] material of next generation thin film
which limit its usage in terms of cost. These drawbacks led solar PVCs due to its abundant component elements in the
to the introduction of third generation of cell. earth crust, nontoxic and environmentally friendly proper-
ties which are not exhibited by CdTe and CIGS if compared.
3.3 Third Generation Photovoltaic Cells: Emerging In 1977, the ­Cu2CdSnS4 based monocrystalline solar cells
Thin Films were successfully fabricated and reached the efficiency of
1.6% in Bell Lab [61]. Ito and Nakazawa in Japan Shinshu
The evolution of third-generation solar cells was a great University utilized the synthesized ­Cu2CdSnS4 monocrystal
development in this field as they came up with a drastically to achieve ­Voc of 165 mV in 1988 [62, 63]. In 1997, Katagiri
high efficiency when compared with the second generation et al. synthesized p-type conductivity with a band gap of
solar PVC’s. This generation solar PVC’s provide an alterna- 1.45 eV and the absorption coefficient over ­104 cm−1 and
tive to its countervail made up of p–n junctions and thin cells obtained the conversion efficiency of 0.66% [63]. However,
respectively as these cells surpass the Shockley Queisser the existence range of single-phase based CZTS is small and
limit of 33.7% PCE [9] for single band-gap solar PVCs. This quaternary synthesis is difficult, so it is no new breakthrough
solar generation uses organic materials such as small mol- for quite a long time, such as the band structure, defect type,
ecules or polymers as photoactive material and also includes and so on. It is still under investigation. The CZTS solar PVC
highly efficient and expensive multi-junction solar PVCs. terrestrial cell recently have shown 7.6 ± 0.1% efficiency on

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aperture area of 1.067 cm2 as tested in NREL on April 2016 3.3.3 Organic Solar PVC (OSC)
[64]. The temperature of the solar PVC module and single
junction cell was optimized at 25 °C. An OSC or plastic solar PVC is made up of the polymers or
the organic materials. Polymers are basically long chained
organic compounds which have carbon as their main com-
3.3.2 Dye Sensitized Solar Cell ponents. Conductive polymers which absorb the light and
convert it into electrical energy are used for making these
Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC), are categorized in third types of solar cells [68]. Advantage of organic solar PVC is
generation thin film based solar PVC. DSSC provide a very that they are flexible and they can be customized in terms of
good alternative to the present p–n junction based solar cells band gap as it can be changed by molecular engineering i.e.
both technically and economically [65]. The special feature changing length and the functional group of the polymers.
of these solar PVC’s which make them different from the The harvesting of photons in OSC’s is high due to better
conventional ones is that both the task of light absorption optical absorption coefficient, so wide range of solar spectra
and charge carrier transport the two functions are separated can be absorbed with a little amount of photovoltaic mate-
here. Main constituents of DSSC device are: rial (usually in nano-meters scale). The key challenges that
cognate with OSC’s are low output efficiency, high degrada-
• Semiconductor electrode n-type ­TiO2 and p-type NiO. tion factor and low strength in analogy with Si based solar
• Dye sensitizer (organic dye molecule), which is sand- PVC [69]. The OSC terrestrial cell have shown 11.2 ± 0.3%
wiched between the electrodes. efficiency on designated illuminated area of 0.922 cm2 as
• Redox mediator tested in AIST lab in 2015 [70]. The OSC mini module with
• A counter electrode 9.7 ± 0.3% efficiency on 26.14 cm2 designated illuminated
area was confirmed AIST lab in 2015 under the global AM
As broad band-gap photo-voltaic material is used wide 1.5 spectrums (1000 W/M2) [70]. The temperature of the
range of solar spectra get absorbed by the sensitizer. With solar PVC module and single junction cell was optimized
the harvesting of photons the separation of low charge at 25 °C.
mobility carriers at interface is accomplished using light- In comparison to Si based PVCs, OSC are less costly to
induced electron injection mechanism from the dye into fabricate, lightweight and environmental friendly. But the
the conduction band to collector of the semiconductor. In major drawback is less efficiency i.e. 1/3 of the hard material
contrast with conventional PV architecture design that uses efficiency [70]. The complete comparison of third generation
solid-state photo-voltaic for exciton generation and electric- is shown in Table 4.
ity conversion, DSSCs uses electrolyte solution for trans-
porting ions to metal electrodes (viz. platinum) [66]. The 3.4 Fourth Generation Solar PVC
fringe benefit of sensitizers (viz. ruthenium compounds)
comprising absorption of wide spectrum band in concomi- The technical exigency globally with variegated applications
tance with transparent conducting oxide films (viz. titanium has become a key challenge impacting R&D work toward
oxide films-nanoporus) of nano-crystalline results in high the evolution of substitute solar PVC technologies called
absorption coefficient. DSSC cover quantitative conver- “fourth-gen”. Heretofore, most of the effort on fourth gen-
sion of incident power radiation into electricity over a large eration solar PVC’s is a part of research in the laboratory
spectral range extending from the UV to the near IR region. and still far from industry approach. The fourth generation
DSSC has achieved over 10% of conversion efficiency in of solar cell employs two enlisted mechanism:
AM1.5 with high flexibility, low price and easy assembling
[65–67]. There are good prospects to produce these cells • Quantum Dots
at lower cost than conventional solar PVCs. The drawback • Concentrated solar cells
which they face is the reliability factor as degradation occurs
at high temperatures [36–40]. The Dye sensitized PVC ter- 3.4.1 Quantum Dots: Nano‑crystal Based Solar PVCs
restrial cell recently have shown 11.9 ± 0.4% efficiency on
aperture area of 1.005 cm2 as tested in AIST on September Quantum dots (QD) solar PVCs are recognized as nano-
2012 [67]. The Dye sensitized terrestrial mini module with crystal solar PVCs as they are made up of nano-crystal range
10.7 ± 0.4% efficiency on 26.55 cm2 designated illuminated of transition metal groups called quantum dots and are a
area was confirmed by AIST on Feb 2015 under the global promising technology. The solution-processed QD’s play a
AM 1.5 spectrum (1000 W/M2) [67]. The temperature of the key role in high and efficient absorption of solar spectra.
solar PVC module and single junction cell was optimized The Nano-crystals are first mixed into anise bath and then
at 25 °C. coated over the Si substrate [71]. QD has the capability to

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 Table 4  Comparative study of third generation Solar PVC
DSSC OPV CZTS

Material Nano-crystals [65] Polymer or organic materials like graphene [68] Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

Current Cell efficiency High efficiency—single junction cells > 12% effi- Low efficiencies—Single layer about 9.7% efficiency CZTS solar PVC with a 7.6% PCE [64]
ciency, and tandem cells > 12% efficiency (liquid [70]
BHJ design) [66, 67]
Manufacturing/Cost Conventional roll-printing techniques/Offers the low- Roll-to-roll printing and deposition methods/Low cost Vacuum and non-vacuum techniques. Use of alloys
est cost of all printed solar cells and short energy fabrication for large area devices [69] like (Zn and SnS) that evaporates undergoing while
payback time < 1 year [67] fabrication and is a challenge/High-price manufactur-
ing process involved [63]
Merits and Demerits Non-silicon based technology—sheltered from silicon Non-silicon based technology—sheltered from silicon It proffers to reduce the material gridlocks found in
supply and prising issues supply and prising issues CIGS
Lightweight, flexible, transparent and colouring Lightweight, flexible, transparent and colouring It is non-toxic Non-silicon based technology—sheltered
options options from silicon supply and prising issues
Maintains efficiency in low light—Indoor and out- Maintains efficiency in low light—Indoor and out- Material cost and availableness are key challenges
door. Enable R2R standard printing door. Enable R2R standard printing faced
Uniform output over a range of light levels Enabler for applications where mechanical flexibility
Commercially available during 2009 from G24 Inno- and disposability are valued
vations for low power small application and later for Commercially available only from 3G solar, Konarka
large area roofing applications from Corus Group Technologies, Plextronics and solarmer
and Pecell Technologies Material instability over the long term, making it
Degradation has been observed in lab when exposed unsuitable for roof applications
to UV rays and heat, PVC sheathing is strenuous to
seal due to solvents and corrosion

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tune bad-gap with change in QD size hence modulating the • Environmental Impact
absorption of solar spectra. QD solar PVC have shown con- • Material Complexity
tinuous up gradation, with a lab record solar PVC efficiency
of 9.2% [72]. These solar PVC’s are cheaper to manufacture 4.1 Efficiency
and have lot of potential in research and practical applica-
tions. But QD intrinsic disorder impedes its commercial Solar PVC conversion efficiency is the most important per-
usage as it not only impacts on carrier mobility but also formance metrics. It refers to how much portion of energy
decreases ­Voc. incident on cell form the sunlight can be transformed via
photovoltaic into electricity. The efficiency of the solar
3.4.2 Concentrated Solar PVCs (CSC) PVCs, in combination with temperature, pollution, lati-
tude and climate determines the annual energy output of
Lots of research and development in the field of solar PVC’s the photo-voltaic system. With sunlight impinging from the
has come up with the most recent technology which is CSC. zenith on a sunny day, a surface perpendicular to the light
This works on the principle of optics where a high amount of receives about 1 kW/m2. When converted by a solar cell
solar energy is concerted over a compact cell area with the of 10% efficiency, 100 W/m2 electrical energy can be har-
help of lens arrangement. Depending upon the power of the vested. The greater the PCE of solar cell, lesser surface area
lens CSC is classified as low, medium and high solar PVCs. will be entailed to meet solar panels energy requirements.
These solar cells have various advantages such as no thermal
mass, no prompt reaction and are available in wide range 4.2 Cost
of sizes. The lab conversion efficiency of this solar PVC is
claimed more than 40% [73]. These cells provide stable and While the solar cell market has shown healthy growth
high energy output throughout the day. These can be imple- of > 20%, the cost of solar cell energy is still considerably
mented in smaller areas and lot of accuracy and stability is higher than other forms of energy. Polysilicon is still the key
required for their installation. The chances of optical losses raw photovoltaic material used by industry to make silicon
are major drawback it faces [73, 74]. wafers. This material rational 30% or more to the overall
This new generation of solar cells exploits usage of vari- PVC cost and so it has been pegged as a major cost con-
ous new materials besides Si, and includes nano carbon tributor to the overall solar PV manufacturing market. If the
tubes, Si wires and solar inks using organic dyes and con- overall cost of solar PVC is considered the total wafer cost
ductive plastics conventional printing press technologies more than 60%. The research development of non-Si-based
[75]. solar PV photovoltaic materials has changed the PV land-
The ultimate aim of research in this fields is to enhance scape entirely, offering exciting near-term cost reductions
on the solar PVCs efficiency already commercially accessi- for material systems.
ble, to develop new technology—basically by making solar
energy conversion more effective over a wider band of solar 4.3 Environment Impact
energy (e.g. including infrared), economically good so it can
be used by more and more people, and to develop more and The fabrication of solar panels enmesh use of electricity
different applications [76]. and water which results in emission of greenhouse gasses
At present, the research work on third and fourth genera- and leads to global warming. As many caustic chemical viz.
tion solar cells is still a work in laboratory and is not com- sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid are also used in fab-
mercially available. The next section gives an overview on rication of solar panels which creates waste. These predica-
latest recent advances and developments in field of Solar ments have lot of environmental impact and also undercut
PVC. solar PVC ability to fight climate change and reduction in
environmental toxics.

4 Performance Metrics 4.4 Material Complexity (Structure)

The performance metrics are the parameters that are used The material complexity here is referred to the degree of
to evaluate and compare the performance of the device. In disorder in a photoactive material used in solar PVC. It is an
this paper the evaluation and comparison generation wise is important parameter to evaluate performance metrics as cell
done on following performance metrics: efficiency varies inversely with complexity. The maximum
efficiency can be achieved with minimum material complex-
• Efficiency ity. Therefore c-Si based solar PVC has better efficiency that
• Cost a-Si as amorphous materials atomic positions are not defined

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whereas it is less defined in polycrystalline films and are into DC electricity. The higher will be the efficiency, lesser
well defined in crystals. This results in more complex struc- will be the area needed to generate a given amount of elec-
ture for a-Si solar PVC than their crystalline correlatives. tricity. The efficiency of panel will judge the physical size of
the system to be build making it an important criterion. With
an angle of environmental impact also, the more efficient
5 Results the panels will be, there will be less manufacturing waste.
The C-Si based solar PVC technology with the lab record
The indicators to clinch on the performance evaluation for PCE of 27% has no subdue in terms of reliability and life
solar PVC as mentioned in Sect. 4 are efficiency, cost, envi- span. Undoubtedly the PCE of emerging nanomaterial-based
ronmental impact and material complexity. The research data thin film technologies in many research papers have claimed
considered for comparisons of these metrics in this review is lab records < 30%. Another advantage being that the deposi-
taken from various sources, such as research papers, busi- tion of nano-photovoltaic materials instead on conventional
ness journals and industry associations. The complete effort option glass has the proficiency to be deposited on plastic,
is made to corroborate the data enlisted, which is compara- paper or any other flexible alternative. This property avoids
ble as it is considered for same system boundary. the use of heavy piece of glass for mechanical support. The
property of engineering these complex nano-photoactive
5.1 Efficiency materials for maximum solar spectra absorption with nano
scale orders for magnitude of material make them a com-
The efficiency metrics evaluation of solar PVC (Fig. 5) petitive with Si solar cells but durability of this emerging
measures a panel’s ability to convert the sunlight directly technology is still in research frame.

Fig. 5  Graph representing development of Solar PVC in terms of efficiency [77]

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5.2 Cost a photovoltaic material is simple but it’s processing in trans-

forming it into wafers is not only complex but is high-budg-
The capitalized cost of Solar PVC can be defined on the eted too. The nano-photovoltaic material makes the process
equivalent present value of the system lasting for n years less energy intensive, easier and cheaper. Therefore, second-
irrespective of any other damage consideration. The Fig. 6 generation cells are based on thin films of materials such as
delineates the comparison of three generations of solar PVC a-Si, mono-crystalline Si, CdTe or CIGS. Third-generation
in terms of cost/Watt. The first generation solar PVC rely on cells are emerging research goals and there is rapid increase
high-price Si wafers and cover > 90% of the present com- in the cell PCE yet cost remains a main hurdle as the pro-
mercial solar market. As such material complexity of Si as cessing techniques are quite expensive.

5.2.1 Environment Impact

Solar PVC technologies have, in general, lesser negative

environmental impacts in comparison to non-renewable
resourses viz. conventional electricity production powered
by fossil fuels. At present, most of the solar PV manufactur-
ers meet or even exceed protocols set globally for handling
and alleviating hazardous materials [79]. Solar PVC manu-
facturing companies use small amounts of heavy metals and
other chemicals such as cadmium and lead for production
of PVC, toxic gases used in production of c-Si are made
environment friendly before releasing. Table 5 gives a brief
on toxic gases produced during manufacturing of PVC and
its effect on human body.

5.3 PV Technology Classification Based on Material

Complexity

The PV technology can also be classified on the basis of

photovoltaic material complexity employed. Figure 7 shows
Fig. 6  Graph representing development of Solar PVC in terms of cost the arrangement in terms of material complexity employed
[78] starting from wafer based technology which utilizes single

Table 5  Representation of different Solar PVC materials used in photovoltaic cell on the basis of intoxicating materials or substances that can
harm environment [79]

Solar PVC materials Environ- Toxic gases produced [77] Hazards

mentally
friendly

C-Si No Silicon dust called kerf Respiratory Problem

Trichlorosilane ­(HSiCl3) Headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain
Toxic phosphine (­ PH3) Serious exposure to these gases may cause shock, convulsions, coma,
irregular heartbeat, and liver and kidney damage
Poly-crystalline No Chloro-Silanes Bad effect on eyes
a-Si No Diborane Get mixed with air forming explosive mixtures
CdTe No Cadmium compounds It affects the kidneys and bones
CIGS No Hydrogen sulfide The effects of hydrogen sulfide depend on the amount you breathe in and
Hydrogen selenide for how long. Exposure to very high concentrations of this gas can lead
to death in no time
It can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath
Polymer Solar PVC Yes – –
Dye Sensitized Solar PVC Yes – –
Nano crystal Solar PVC Yes – –
Concentrated Solar PVC Yes – –

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technology based on nano-materials; which can prove itself

to be easier, cheaper and efficient solution.
These nanomaterial based design will have unique attrib-
utes like lightweight, ultra-thin, transparent and much more
that will open up doors for new applications [80]. The
advancement in research leads to the pragmatic use of new
technologies resulting in improvement in PCE or reducing
the cost of current devices capitalizing on existing manufac-
turing plant and proven mass-production capacity. Recent
trends have exhibited better revolutionary solution that might
result in new device concepts viz. DSSC and polymer based
solar PVCs (including organic/inorganic hybrids). Undeni-
ably these new emerging solar PVC have shown promising
outcomes but none has succeeded in out paring c-Si solar
PVC in cost or efficiency, but there is every chance that these
devices might still demonstrate step-change improvements
or those new types of device may yet emerge. Advance-
ment in solar PVC is Quantum Dot Solar PVC in which
the absorbing photovoltaic material used is quantum dot.
These photoactive materials will supplant conventional bulk
materials such as Si, CIGS or CdTe with quantum dots. The
advantage of using this concept is that with change in the
size of quantum dots, the band-gap can be easily modulated
across a wide range of energy levels and hence resulting in
increase in wider solar spectrum absorption [81–83]. This
makes modulation of the band-gap with quantum dots propi-
tious for solar PVCs.
There is lot of development in defining new materials
for Solar PVC. The perovskite solar cell has a potential to
Fig. 7  Material complexity of various materials in solar PVC [80] expeditiously capture the market. But one of the biggest
disadvantages it faces when compared to its countervail Si
based solar PVCs is stability and their relatively short lifes-
or few atoms building blocks to complex thin-film tech- pan [84, 85]. A pervasive problem that research in lab beset
nologies. These emerging thin film technologies are then is its inability to scale up experiments compatible for use in
arranged in order of increasing complexity, ranging from industry. As such it is not difficult to make perovskite films
amorphous elemental materials such as a-Si, through poly- on a small scale in the research laboratory, but it is arduous
crystalline thin films such as CdTe, to complex nanomateri- to replicate the same on the large scale needed for mass
als such as quantum dots, which contain thousands of lead production.
and sulphur atoms [80].

6 Future Expectation 7 Conclusion

The renewable, low-carbon energy option that can escalate Solar PVC is a low-carbon photovoltaic technology which
and fulfil global energy demand is Solar Energy. At present is not only scalable but technical matured too and has a
c-Si based Solar PVC are considered to be the most reli- potential to meet global energy demands. It has a compe-
able and business-like choice. But the fabrication process tence to generate electricity at terawatt scale with the viable
of these cells is highly complex and need of thick Si wafer strategy to extenuate climate change peril. The creative
(for high intrinsic light absorption) leads to a rigid and heavy residential and commercial business models, furtherance in
weight glass-enclosed c-Si modules contributing to higher conversion efficiency and reduce cost in photo-voltaic tech-
cost. There is lot of research going on to enhance solar PVC nology have resulted in the credible rise in installation of
output efficiency either by (i) working on outdoor practi- solar panels. This paper compare various technologies used
cal issues [78, 79] or by (ii) developing a novel Solar PVC in solar PVC’s from generation to generation on the basis

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Table 6  Overall comparison table of different materials [24, 25, 34, 43, 49, 57, 64, 67, 70, 72, 73, 77, 78]
Technology Units 1st Generation 2nd Generation 3rd Generation 4th Generation
Single or Multi- Amorphous Poly-crystal- Copper Cadmium tel- III-V Dye-sensi- Organic or Quantum dot Perovskite
Mono- crystalline (a-Si:H) line Silicon indium gal- luride (CdTe) Compound tized polymer
crystalline(c- (mc-Si) Silicon sin- (ps-Si) lium selenide multi- (DSSC) (OPV)
Si) Silicon Silicon gles/Tandem (CIGS) junction,
concentrated
PV (CPV)

Best research % 26.33 21.3 10.5/13.6 11.0 22.6 22.1 46.0 11.9 11.5 11.3 22.1
solar cell
efficiency
Confirmed % 20–26 14–20 6–9 9.0–11.0 10–16 8–11 38–43 8–11 6–10 1–9 5–17
solar cell
efficiency
Commercial % 16–21 13–15 8–11 9.0–10.5 14–16 8–11 26–32 5–10 2–4 – –
PV module
efficiency
Confirmed % 24.4 19.9 7.2/10.0 10.5 18.7 11.2 38.9 10.7 9.7 – 12.1
maximum
PV module
efficiency
Current PV $/W <1.3 <1.3 ~0.8 ~0.8 ~0.9 ~0.55 ~2.2 0.88 ~1.0 – –
module cost
Market share % 35% 55% 2 1 2 5 – – – – –
in 2016
Maximum PV Wp 320 320 300 120 120 120 120 – – – –
module out-
put power
PV module m2 2.0 1.4–2.5 1.4 1.0 0.6–1.0 0.72 – – – – –
size
Status of com- Mature/Large Mature/ Medium Scale Medium Scale Medium Scale Medium Scale Small Scale R&D Phase R&D Phase R&D Phase R&D Phase
mercialisa- Scale Pro- Large Production Production Production Production Production
tion duction Scale
Produc-
tion
Cost per $/kWh 0.060 0.087 0.112/0.080 0.076 0.074 0.049 0.060 0.10 0.10
watt per
efficiency
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials

of performance metrics of efficiency, cost, environmental 9. W. Shockley, The theory of p–n junctions in semiconductors
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