Handicapping the Field: How Next-Generation Solar PV Materials Will Emerge into the Market
The search is on for materials platforms that improve the conversion efficiency of solar panels.
The solar panel industry now seems back on track following the boom-and-bust period. The sector is still dominated by crystalline silicon (c-Si), but the current upswing means that the search is on once more for materials platforms that improve the conversion efficiency of solar panels. Efforts have been rebooted to hone and ultimately commercialize these next-generation materials.
Some are close at hand, such as novel approaches to doping silicon panels. Meanwhile, the thin-film photovoltaic (PV) sector continues to seek success against entrenched c-Si; this could come from improvements to cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), while other thin-film materials are beginning to receive serious commercial attention. The solar industry also is beginning to think out of the box with a slew of entirely new nanomaterials such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes and graphene.