On current technology for light absorber materials used in highly efficient industrial solar cells

The renewable power industry is currently experiencing a rapid growth led by photovoltaic systems because of advances in materials science and cost reductions in processing strategies. Central to the high power conversion efficiency performance of the solar cell is the light absorber, which can as well account for the bulk of the high-volume manufacturing expenditure. Technologies are continually being developed to drastically slash the mass production outlay while simultaneously maintaining a sufficiently high photoelectric performance, thereby enabling usage not just in high concentration and space applications, but conventional flat-plate and low-concentration photovoltaic systems. Here, we survey the state-of-the-art materials processing, research and technology trends, and prospects for various solar light absorber materials such as commercial-grade silicon, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide, as well as emerging organic polymers and perovskites, in single-junction and stacked cell configurations for highly efficient industrial solar cells.