Therefore, around 2009, the production capacity of thin-film batteries, especially CdTe thin-film batteries, expanded rapidly. On the one hand, the price of crystalline silicon solar cells remains high, and on the other hand, the shortage of silicon materials causes insufficient output. Moreover, with the sudden explosion of the solar cell industry at that time, the capacity expansion of the polycrystalline silicon material purification industry could not keep up with demand, which caused the raw material prices of crystalline silicon solar cells to skyrocket. The technology was mainly developed and mass-produced by First Solar in the United States. Around 2009, the newly emerged CdTe thin-film solar cells accounted for a large share of their very competitive cost. However, with the substantial drop in the manufacturing cost of crystalline silicon solar cells, crystalline silicon solar cells gradually occupy the mainstream position. This is because in the 1990s, the price of amorphous silicon solar cells was much lower than that of crystalline silicon solar cells, so amorphous silicon solar cells accounted for a high market share. It can be noticed from the figure that the share of amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells has been decreasing year by year since 1999. Monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon solar cells have always occupied a major market share, mainly due to the maturity of the technology and the low price. Figure 1 shows the market share of various batteries in recent years. Currently mainly used in the aerospace industry, ground applications are being demonstrated in a small number of concentrating and tracking power stations to evaluate their cost performance.Īmong all these types of solar cells, only crystalline silicon solar cells, silicon thin-film solar cells, CdTe thin-film solar cells, and CIGS thin-film solar cells have entered the industrialization. The III-V triple-junction tandem solar cell produced by Solar Junction in the United States has an efficiency of 43.5% under 418 times the concentration of light, while the non-concentrating triple-junction tandem solar cell has the highest efficiency of 35.8% of Sharp’s. However, the raw materials of this solar cell are expensive and the preparation process is very complicated, so the finished product is expensive. At present, the most efficient is the laminated concentrating solar cell made of III-V group materials. In recent decades, the laboratory efficiency of these solar cells has been continuously improved. Including quantum dot solar cells, thermal photovoltaic solar cells and intermediate zone solar cells.
⑤Gallium arsenide type single-layer and stacked-layer solar cells. ④Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells.
③Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film solar cells. Including amorphous silicon thin film solar cells, microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells and amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells, as well as laminated solar cells of the above three types of thin film cells. Including monocrystalline silicon solar cells and polycrystalline silicon solar cells. There are many types of solar cells, generally classified according to materials, there are the following types.