Solar energy is one of the most demanding renewable sources of electricity. Electricity production using photovoltaic technology not only helps meet the growing demand for energy, but also contributes to mitigating global climate change by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The level of competitiveness of innovative next-generation solar cells is increasing due to the efforts of researchers and scientists related to the development of new materials, particularly nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
It is noted that the solar cell market is dominated by monocrystalline silicon cells due to their high efficiency. About two decades ago, the efficiency of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells reached the 25% threshold at the laboratory scale. Despite technological advances since then, peak efficiency has now increased very slightly to 26.6%. As the efficiency of crystalline silicon technology approaches the saturation curve, researchers around the world are exploring alternative materials and manufacturing processes to further increase this efficiency. Polycrystalline and amorphous thin film silicon cells are seen as a serious competitor to monocrystalline silicon cells. However, their disadvantage is their disordered nature which results in low efficiency.
In this paper is a comprehensive overview of various PV technologies that are currently available or will be available in the near future on a commercial scale. A comparative analysis in terms of efficiency and the technological processes used is presented. Over the past few decades, many new materials have emerged that provide an efficient source of power generation to meet future demands while being cost-effective. This paper is a comprehensive study covering the generations of photovoltaic cells and the properties that characterize these cells. Photovoltaic cell materials of different generations have been compared based on their fabrication methods, properties, and photoelectric conversion efficiency.
First-generation solar cells are conventional and based on silicon wafers. The second generation of solar cells involves thin film technologies. The third generation of solar cells includes new technologies, including solar cells made of organic materials, cells made of perovskites, dye-sensitized cells, quantum dot cells, or multi-junction cells. With advances in technology, the drawbacks of previous generations have been eliminated in fourth-generation graphene-based solar cells. The popularity of photovoltaics depends on three aspects—cost, raw material availability, and efficiency. Third-generation solar cells are the latest and most promising technology in photovoltaics. Research on these is still in progress. This review pays special attention to the new generation of solar cells: multi-junction cells and photovoltaic cells with an additional intermediate band.
Recent advances in multi-junction solar cells based on n-type silicon and functional nanomaterials such as graphene offer a promising alternative to low-cost, high-efficiency cells. Currently, multi-junction cells, which benefit from advances enabled by nanotechnology, are breaking efficiency records. They are still quite expensive and represent a complex system, but there are simpler alternatives that may eventually provide a path to the competitiveness of the highest efficiency devices. Another significant advance is being made in the generation of additional energy levels in the band structure of silicon. In both cases, more research evidence, policies, and technology are needed to make them accessible. Therefore, it remains crucial to develop silicon-based technologies. The use of these new solar cell architectures would provide a new direction toward achieving commercial goals. Multi-junction based solar cells and new photovoltaic cells with an additional intermediate energy level are expected to provide extremely high efficiency. The research in this case focuses on a low-cost manufacturing process. Therefore, commercialization of these cells requires further work and exploration.
Nanotechnology and newly developed multifunctional nanomaterials can help overcome current performance barriers and significantly improve solar energy generation and conversion through photovoltaic techniques. Many physical phenomena have been identified at the nanoscale that can improve solar energy generation and conversion. However, the challenges associated with these technologies continue to be an issue when they are incorporated into PV manufacturing. Thanks to initial successes in recent years, nanomaterials are one of the most promising energy technologies of the future and are expected to significantly reform the future energy market. Carbon nanoparticles and their allotropic forms, such as graphene, are expected to offer high efficiency compared to conventional silicon cells in the near future and thus contribute to new prospects for the solar energy market.
This research was funded by the Lublin University of Technology, grant number FD-20/EE-2/708.
P.W. proposed a study on photovoltaic cell generations and current research directions for their development and guided the work. J.P. conducted a literature review and wrote the paper. J.P. and P.W. described further prospects and research directions and outlined conclusions based on the collected literature. P.W. reviewed and edited the work. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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A solar cell is made of two types of semiconductors, called p-type and n-type silicon. The p-type silicon is produced by adding atoms—such as boron or gallium—that have one less electron in their outer energy level than does silicon. Because boron has one less electron than is required to form the bonds with the surrounding silicon atoms, an electron vacancy or “hole” is created.
The n-type silicon is made by including atoms that have one more electron in their outer level than does silicon, such as phosphorus. Phosphorus has five electrons in its outer energy level, not four. It bonds with its silicon neighbor atoms, but one electron is not involved in bonding. Instead, it is free to move inside the silicon structure.
A solar cell consists of a layer of p-type silicon placed next to a layer of n-type silicon (Fig. 1). In the n-type layer, there is an excess of electrons, and in the p-type layer, there is an excess of positively charged holes (which are vacancies due to the lack of valence electrons). Near the junction of the two layers, the electrons on one side of the junction (n-type layer) move into the holes on the other side of the junction (p-type layer). This creates an area around the junction, called the depletion zone, in which the electrons fill the holes (Fig. 1, closeup).
When all the holes are filled with electrons in the depletion zone, the p-type side of the depletion zone (where holes were initially present) now contains negatively charged ions, and the n-type side of the depletion zone (where electrons were present) now contains positively charged ions. The presence of these oppositely charged ions creates an internal electric field that prevents electrons in the n-type layer to fill holes in the p-type layer.
When sunlight strikes a solar cell, electrons in the silicon are ejected, which results in the formation of “holes”—the vacancies left behind by the escaping electrons. If this happens in the electric field, the field will move electrons to the n-type layer and holes to the p-type layer. If you connect the n-type and p-type layers with a metallic wire, the electrons will travel from the n-type layer to the p-type layer by crossing the depletion zone and then go through the external wire back of the n-type layer, creating a flow of electricity.
A solar future.
An increasing number of everyday items are powered with the sun, including backpacks, watches, cars, and airplanes. Also, electricity-generating solar power plants may become an alternative to coal-fired power plants and natural gas power stations in the future.
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Solar cells have been a cost-effective technology of producing a sustainable electricity using renewable sun energy. In this paper we have focused our research on an innovative yet simple approach including concentrated PV (Photovoltaic) cells using Fresnel lens. In our findings we tried to expound the refracting properties of the Fresnel lens to concentrate the solar spectrum on to a ...
Paper • The following article is Open access. Solar photovoltaic technology: A review of different types of solar cells and its future trends ... , Volume 1913, International Conference on Research Frontiers in Sciences (ICRFS 2021) 5th-6th February 2021, Nagpur, India Citation Mugdha V Dambhare et al 2021 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1913 012053 DOI ...
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In summary, the main contributions and observations of this research are as follows: • We present a MOO framework for optimal thin-lm solar cell structure designs. 357 1 3 ... Section 2 of this paper explains quantum eciency of solar cell, solar cell struc-ture and design. Related work on cells structure optimization is discussed in Sect. 3.
2.3 Design of solar cells structure. When designing and optimizing a solar cell structure, we use two light-trapping methods: light-trapping BR layer and nano-texturing. Metals like silver (Ag) maybe used as a BR layer, while alkaline solutions like KOH or NaOH are used for nano-texturing of layer's interfaces.
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According to the manufacturer, eArche has a thickness of 5-6 mm and weighs only about two tons per 100 kW, while conventional solar roof systems weigh about eight tons per 100 kW and cost about the same. The flexible photovoltaic panel can be custom-made to suit the individual sizes of the roofs and walls of buildings.
Journal of Scientific Research Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. DOI: 10.37398/JSR.2021.650214 72 Abstract: Progress in the field of solar cell technology starting with first generation and second generation solar cells is discussed ... This paper is an overview of the advances in solar cell technology and ...
Abstract and Figures. Solar cells are a promising and potentially important technology and are the future of sustainable energy for the human civilization. This article describes the latest ...
Solar technology refers to technology that uses solar radiation to generate electricity or utilize thermal energy. Solar energy is environmentally friendly, renewable, noiseless, and pollution-free and does not require fuel, making it a form of renewable energy. A solar cell (SC) comprises multiple thin layers of semiconductor materials. When sunlight shines on an SC, photons excite electrons ...
The photovoltaic effect is used by the photovoltaic cells (PV) to convert energy received from the solar radiation directly in to electrical energy [3].The union of two semiconductor regions presents the architecture of PV cells in Fig. 1, these semiconductors can be of p-type (materials with an excess of holes, called positive charges) or n-type (materials with excess of electrons, called ...
This paper reviews the advancement made in the previous years in the field of monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin-film PV and perovskite solar cell. This paper provides a general understanding of power generation using PV systems and discusses early research of the PV cell.
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Abstract and Figures. In this review, principles of solar cells are presented together with the photovoltaic (PV) power generation. A brief review of the history of solar cells and present status ...
ally designed solar cell. However, the maximum IPCE of 7% was discussed in the review paper for naphthyridine coordinated Ru complex [10] which was good till 2007 but is almost half to the efficiencies shown in later work. The main emphasis of the review paper published by Bose et al. [11] was the current state and developments
PV addresses the energy problem , which many passionately want to solve. By 2050 the world will need ~ 30 TW of power. Some think PV could provide 20 % of that. It takes a panel rated at 5 W, to average 1 W of power through the day and year, so we would need 30 TW of PV capacity. At $1/W, the industry would take in $30 trillion.
This research was funded by the Lublin University of Technology, grant number FD-20/EE-2/708. P.W. proposed a study on photovoltaic cell generations and current research directions for their development and guided the work. J.P. conducted a literature review and wrote the paper.
V. Raja Sekhar and P. Pradeep, A Review Paper on Advancements in Solar PV Technology, Environmental Impact of PV Cell Manufacturing, International Journal of Advanced Research in Science ...
The solar cell is the basic building block of solar photovoltaics. When charged by the sun, this basic unit generates a dc photovoltage of 0.5 to 1.0V and, in short circuit, a photocurrent of some tens of mA/cm2. Since the voltage is too small for most applications, to produce a useful voltage, the cells are connected in series into
A solar cell is made of two types of semiconductors, called p-type and n-type silicon. The p-type silicon is produced by adding atoms—such as boron or gallium—that have one less electron in their outer energy level than does silicon. Because boron has one less electron than is required to form the bonds with the surrounding silicon atoms, an electron vacancy or "hole" is created.