Crystalline silicon solar panel power generation

What are crystalline silicon solar cells used for?

NPG Asia Materials 2, 96–102 (2010) Cite this article Crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells are used in the largest quantity of all types of solar cells on the market, representing about 90% of the world total PV cell production in 2008. Crystalline silicon solar cells are also expected to have a primary role in the future PV market.

What is a crystalline solar cell?

The first generation of the solar cells, also called the crystalline silicon generation, reported by the International Renewable Energy Agency or IRENA has reached market maturity years ago . It consists of single-crystalline, also called mono, as well as multicrystalline, also called poly, silicon solar cells.

Are solar cells based on crystalline silicon a first generation technology?

Typically, solar cells based on crystalline silicon represent the first generation technology.

What is a crystalline silicon PV cell?

The crystalline silicon PV cell is one of many silicon-based semiconductor devices. The PV cell is essentially a diode with a semiconductor structure (Figure 1), and in the early years of solar cell production, many technologies for crystalline silicon cells were proposed on the basis of silicon semiconductor devices.

What are the efficiencies of crystalline silicon solar cells?

The efficiencies of typical commercial crystalline silicon solar cells with standard cell structures are in the range of 16–18% for monocrystalline substrates and 15–17% for polycrystalline substrates. The substrate thickness used in most standard crystalline cells is 160–240 μm.

How can crystalline silicon solar cells be produced?

Production technologies such as silver-paste screen printing and firing for contact formation are therefore needed to lower the cost and increase the volume of production for crystalline silicon solar cells.