What are the new thin-film PV technologies?

With intense R&D efforts in materials science, several new thin-film PV technologies have emerged that have high potential, including perovksite solar cells, Copper zinc tin sulfide (Cu 2 ZnSnS 4, CZTS) solar cells, and quantum dot (QD) solar cells. 6.1. Perovskite materials

Are thin-film solar cells the future of PV?

It is safe to assume that thin-film solar cells will play an increasing role in the future PV market. On the other hand, any newcomer to the production scene will, for obvious reasons, have a very hard time in displacing well-established materials and technologies, such as crystalline and amorphous silicon.

Are thin-film solar cells better than silicon-based solar cells?

This is indeed the case for CED and GWP, as overall, the energy requirement of thin-film solar cell technologies is much lower than conventional crystalline silicon solar cell systems. This in turn led to less GHG emissions from thin film solar cells than silicon-based cells.

How much energy does a thin film solar cell use?

Review of cumulative energy demand (CED) during the life cycle for various thin-film solar cell technologies in comparison to conventional Si-Based technologies. Among the twelve types of thin film solar cell technologies, only GaAs required more energy than mono-Si (4056.5 MJ/m2) and multi-Si (3924.5 MJ/m2).

What is thin film photovoltaic (PV)?

Thin film photovoltaic (PV) technologies often utilize monolithic integration to combine cells into modules. This is an approach whereby thin, electronically-active layers are deposited onto inexpensive substrates (e.g. glass) and then interconnected cells are formed by subsequent back contact processes and scribing.

What are the challenges in silicon thin-film solar cells?

Challenges in Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cell Because it takes a significant amount of time to simulate a silicon thin-film solar cell, optimizing the performance of silicon thin-film solar cells using device simulation tools is difficult; however, PV-based compact models can save time.