THE CHALLENGE OF PV TECHNOLOGIES Thomas Berger Wenzel Fiala Hannes List.

THE CHALLENGE OF PV TECHNOLOGIES

Thomas BergerWenzel FialaHannes List

Physics of solar cells

Technologies of solar cells

Silicon solar cellMonocrystalline siliconPoly- or multicrystalline siliconRibbon silicon

Silicon thin-films amorphous siliconprotocrystalline silicon nanocrystalline silicon


Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)Thin-film, easy to deposit, large scale

productionCopper-Indium Selenide (CuInSe2)Thin film, high optical absorption

coefficientsGallium Arsenide (GaAs) MultijunctionMultiple thin films, Triple-junction cell,

each conductor absorb light most efficiently at a certain colour, absorp nearly the entire solar spectrum


Single Crystal Solar Cellhigh-purity material, excellent efficiencies and

long-term stability, too expensive for mass production

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)manufactured by screen printing, lowest-cost

solar cell

Organic/Polymer Solar CellsLow efficiency, mechanical flexibility

Nanocrystalline Solar Cellshigh surface area to increase internal reflections

and hence increase the probability of light absorption

Current use of PV-Technologies

Low power applications/solar chargers

Solar parks/power plants

Water pumping

Space applications

And many, many more

Efficiency in current PV-Technologies

Currently efficiencies of solar cells – maximum 20 %

In research labs they reach already 35 % and more

Theoretical calculations of up to 80 % in the future

The future of PV-Technologies

Many research groups in universities and research institutions around the world are currently active in the field of photovoltaics. This research can be divided into three areas:

Making current technology solar cells cheaper and/or more efficient

Developing new technologiesDeveloping new materials

Photovoltaic in Austria


• Funded since the mid-1980s• First program in 1992 („200 kW-

photovoltaic-broadtest“)• Today Vorarlberg has more than 1/3 of

Austrians PV-Powerplants


Installed performance: Accumulated performance:


• Till the end of 2006, 25.5 MWp has been installed

• Of this amount, 88% were run by grid-connection, 12 % autarchically

• There is an estimated amount of approximately 20 GWh/year PV-power in Austria


• Costs: • 49 Cents for plants < 5kW• 42 Cents for plants between 5-10 kW• 32 Cents for plants > 10 kW


20% scenario in Austria till 2050

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

THE CHALLENGE OF PV TECHNOLOGIES Thomas Berger Wenzel Fiala Hannes List.

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