Thin-Film Silicon PV Technology

Thin-film silicon solar cell technology is one of the promising photovoltaic technologies for delivering low-cost solar electricity. Today the thin-film silicon PV market (402MW_p produced in 2008) is dominated by amorphous silicon based modules; however it is expected that the tandem amorphous/microcrystalline silicon modules will take over in near future. Solar cell structures based on thin-film silicon for obtaining high efficiency are presented. In order to increase the absorption in thin absorber layers novel approaches for photon management are developed. Module production and application areas are described.