Current and future trends in photovoltaic technology

Abstract

The work presented analyzes the current technology trends in solar cell research and photovoltaic (PV) industry. All presented trends like passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) Integrated back contact (IBC) and silicon heterojunction (SHJ) technology currently lead to higher solar module efficiencies in mass production with current values around 20% under standard testing conditions (STC). A promising trend is the current development of perovskite solar cells which, according to the study presented, will lead to solar modules with 30% conversion efficiency in mass production in about 10 years from now. The paper also analyzes additional trends in PV technology like bifacial modules or PV roof tiles. Latter products also need to be analyzed under oblique light conditions. Incidence angle modifier (IAM) measurements of several optically uncoupled solar glasses are presented.