Recent progress of thin film solar cells

Abstract

During recent months it has become possible to make thin film solar cells with conversion efficiencies greater than 5 per cent and areas as large as 50 cm². The state of the art in this field is reviewed with emphasis on papers presented at the past several photovoltaic Specialists Conferences. Solar cells using thin films of CdS, CdTe and GaAs are discussed in detail. The fabrication, structure and properties of these cells are described and related to their solar conversion efficiency, specific power to weight ratio and environmental stability. In addition, the characteristics of these thin film cells are discussed in terms of criteria for practical space application.