According to Frost & Sullivan, in areas such as grid power and power for portable devices, PVs are considered a leading technology and will continue to be a research focus over the next 10 to 20 years.
Analysts said while silicon solar cells and thin film solar cells have dominated the solar cell industry, a third generation of solar cells made from nanomaterials look poised to foster “tremendous” advancements in the industry.
While silicon solar cells and thin film solar cells have dominated the solar cell industry, a third generation of solar cells made from nanomaterials look poised to revolutionize the industry. Nanomaterials, while displaying superior properties such as high strength and flexibility can also have their orientation tuned to trap energy more efficiently than conventional materials. However, these solar cells are yet in their inception stage and silicon photovoltaic technology is likely to remain dominant, in terms of research and development, over the next decade. Emerging silicon photovoltaic technologies to look forward to include the FLATCON technology being developed by Concentrix Solar and the Emitter-Wrap Through (EWT) solar cells being developed by Advent Solar. While FLATCON uses Fresnel lens to efficiently concentrate light on the solar cell, and hence finds potential applications in grid networks for remote locations, the EWT solar cell is basically a back contact solar cell that achieves up to 22 percent efficiency in power conversion.
In respect to thin film solar technology, Copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) thin films are the preferred choice of many manufacturers owing to advantages such as higher efficiency and the fact that they are more environment friendly than rival cadmium-telluride films. California-based Miasolé Corporation’s novel CIGS modules and Austin, Texas-based Heliovolt’s field assisted simultaneous synthesis and transfer (FASST) process that produces cost-effective yet efficient solar cell modules are the noteworthy thin film innovations anticipated in the future. “Amorphous and microcrystalline silicon (Si)-based thin film diodes are the most promising technologies for future photovoltaic technology,” says the analyst. “One of their prime advantages is that they do not pose any environmental problems while being manufactured, operated upon, or disposed.”
Source: Frost&Sullivan