Trends in Cadmium telluride thin- film technology

Current Trends & Application Assignment 4
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Trends in Cadmium telluride thin- film technology
Although there has been great promise on the viability of thin-film technology, it is only in the 21st century that researchers in the PV technology have gained tremendous insights on how to reduce the cost of producing cheaper solar panels. There are various forms of the thin-film technology including the CdTe and CIGS and silicon technologies. Thus, the CdTe based solar panels are expected to play a more prominent role as a source of energy, and improved efficiency in the technology is likely to result to increase demand for the solar modules. Even though, there is a rich history in thin-film solar cells made of CdTe, the technological innovations have also become more relevant in the 21st century. At the movement they have efficiencies of 16% for cells and 10 % for solar modules, but there are further developments that will improve the efficiency of the technology (Goetzberger & Hoffmann, 2005). In the early development of CdTe solar cells researchers encountered problems that hampered progress in their research work, including unavailability of low resistance p- type contacts and difficulty in doping them.
Some of the earliest breakthrough innovations came about in the 1980’s, where there were numerous cases of deposition techniques that increased cell efficiency. One of the earliest technique was the Close -spaced sublimation (CSS), and this involved screen printing and spraying and this was mostly used by Kodak (Luque & Hegedus, 2011). Polycrystalline solar panels had more efficiency than the single crystalline counterpart. Another technique that was applicable among the early pioneers of CdTe solar cells is electrodeposition and was mostly utilized by Monsolar and AMTEK (Luque & Hegedus, 2011). One of the main advantages of using CdTe in thin-film technology is that it can easily handle the deposition processes. Similarly, in the manufacturing process the compound can be used on flexible materials easing the process of deposition (Goetzberger & Hoffmann, 2005).
In the 1990’s, there were further developments in the CdTe technology where the manufacture of modules led to integration of better advanced technology. Since the modules required more current than small cells could provide, it became necessary to add the transports conducting oxide layer. Furthermore, researchers found it necessary to add an additional buffer zone to the solar cells to strengthen them, and combined with thinning the cells this would allow more light penetration and hence increased the efficiency of solar modules (Zweibel, 1995). In the late 1990’s, CdTe became more important in the thin-film solar panels manufacture after Solar Cells Incorporated became the first company to abandon use of silicon in favor of CdTe, based on the projections that the compound would result to cheaper solar panels. Having being sold to new owners, the company changed its name to First Solar, and in the 21st century the company has been the major player in using CdTe in thin-film technology after various innovations led to improved efficiency in CdTe cells.
Even though, R& D is important for improving the efficiency of the technology it is the political debate that has shaped the need for CdTe solar cells and thin-film technology. Arising out of this is the fact that countries need to have reliable sources of energy away from fossil fuels whose prices keep increasing often. However, the cost of producing electricity using fossil fuels is the cheapest option in comparison to renewable sources of energy. To add another dimension to the debate on solar energy is the need to ...