Open AccessPhotovoltaics towards terawatts – progress in photovoltaic cells and modules
Author(s) -
Benda Vitezslav
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
iet power electronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.637
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1755-4543
pISSN - 1755-4535
DOI - 10.1049/iet-pel.2015.0102
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , photovoltaics , grid parity , environmental science , electrical engineering , automotive engineering , electricity generation , engineering physics , grid , reliability engineering , engineering , power (physics) , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
After 30 years of development, photovoltaic (PV) technology has been recognised to be capable of contributing significantly to future energy supply. The global cumulative installed PV power now exceeds 180 GW p , and the annually installed power exceeds 40 GW p . The cost of electrical energy produced by PV systems is now close to that from conventional sources. This study discusses the physics, construction and manufacture of PV cells and modules, taking into account current trends in technology. All parts of PV systems that influence the cost of the electrical energy produced are considered. Three generations of PV module are described. Crystalline silicon (c‐Si) is and will remain the dominant PV material at least until 2020 because of its high efficiency, long service time and relatively low cost. It represents nearly 90% of total module production. There are no material supply constraints to limit production and a decrease in c‐Si PV module cost to below 0.4 €/W p before 2017 can be expected. PV power generation will reach industrial grid parity before 2020 and a cumulative installed power of 1 TW p is expected before 2025.