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A Comprehensive Review on Current Performance, Challenges and Progress in Thin-Film Solar Cells

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  • Santhosh Sivaraj

    (Department of Robotics and Automation, Easwari Engineering College, Ramapuram, Chennai 600089, Tamil Nadu, India)

  • Rajasekar Rathanasamy

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode 638060, Tamil Nadu, India)

  • Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan

    (Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode 638060, Tamil Nadu, India)

  • Hitesh Panchal

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Patan 384265, Gujarat, India)

  • Ali Jawad Alrubaie

    (Department of Medical Instrumentation Techniques Engineering, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Hilla 51001, Iraq)

  • Mustafa Musa Jaber

    (Department of Medical Instruments Engineering Techniques, Dijlah University College, Baghdad 10021, Iraq)

  • Zafar Said

    (Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates
    Department of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Lebanese American University (LAU), Byblos P.O. Box 36/S-122, Lebanon
    U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan)

  • Saim Memon

    (School of Engineering, Arden University, Arden House, Middlemarch Park, Coventry CV34FJ, UK)

Abstract

Due to the recent surge in silicon demand for solar modules, thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules have a potential to penetrate the market in significant numbers. As an alternate candidate, thin film technologies in PVs have the ability to achieve better performance. The competing thin-film PV technologies have the flexibility to adapt to any sort of curvature compared to rigid solar cells (SCs). Due to the peculiar characteristics of newer solar materials, stability issues, reflection losses, advancements in electrode materials and dopant materials with a photoactive layer are current challenges driving the industrial-academic voyage of development of solar materials for the betterment of Photo-conversion Efficiency (PCE). Based on the photoactive materials used over time, SC evolution was broadly classified into first, second and third generation SCs. In this review, the basic working mechanisms, various materials used, drawbacks and stability issues of different SCs are discussed extensively. Thin film SCs tend to absorb certain elastic deformations due to their flexible nature and to a certain extent. According to the NREL efficiency chart, multi-junctional SCs exhibit enhanced efficiency as compared to the other SCs. Among the third-generation SCs, the perovskite/Si tandem architecture shows a maximum efficiency of approximately 29%. Thin film flexible SCs find application in various sectors such as automobile, defense and/or energy storage devices

Suggested Citation

  • Santhosh Sivaraj & Rajasekar Rathanasamy & Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan & Hitesh Panchal & Ali Jawad Alrubaie & Mustafa Musa Jaber & Zafar Said & Saim Memon, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review on Current Performance, Challenges and Progress in Thin-Film Solar Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-34, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:22:p:8688-:d:977679
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