Thin-film solar cells large scale production

This book is devoted to the properties, preparation and applications of zinc oxide (ZnO) as an transparent electrode material. It focuses on ZnO for thin film solar cell applications and hopefully inspires also readers from related fields. The book is structured into three parts to serve both as an overview as well as a data collection for students, engineers and scientists. The first part, Chaps. 1-4, provide an overview of the application and fundamental material properties of ZnO films and their surface and interfaces properties. Chaps. 5-7 review thin film deposition techniques applied for ZnO preparation on lab scale but also for large area production. Finally, Chaps. 8 and 9 are devoted to applications of ZnO in silicon- and chalcopyrite-based thin film solar cells, respectively. One should note that the application of CVD grown ZnO in silicon thin film cells is discussed earlier in Chap. 6. 

Thin film solar cells in general require a minimum of material and energy input. This is an important fact in view of availability of materials and pay-back time of solar generators. Thin film technology provides means for large scale production and the feasibility to realize integrated photovoltaic generators by the same production process. 

Minor differences in the efficiency between Si cells and CdS-CUj S cells however are by far compensated by the advantages and potentials of thin film solar cells as far as material consumption, energy input for fabrication and production technology are concerned. The advantages promise that the price goal for an economic use and large scale production will be achieved in the near future. 

Before large scale production of MIS solar cells can be contemplated for terrestrial applications it is essential that the long term performance of the cells should be assessed and any mechanisms present that cause the cell efficiency to degrade identified. Because of the thin oxide and barrier metal films... 

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