Thin Film Solar Cell

Thin Film Solar Cell

A thin-film solar cell (TFSC), also called a thin-film photovoltaic cell (TFPV), is a solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin film) of photovoltaic material on a substrate. The thickness range of such a layer is wide and varies from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers.

Many different photovoltaic materials are deposited with various deposition methods on a variety of substrates. Thin-film solar cells are usually categorized according to the photovoltaic material used:

Amorphous silicon (a-Si) and other thin-film silicon (TF-Si)
Cadmium telluride (CdTe)
Copper indium gallium selenide (CIS or CIGS)
Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) and other organic solar cells

$\begin{pmatrix}\mathrm{Cu}\\\mathrm{Ag}\\\mathrm{Au}\end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix}\mathrm{Al}\\\mathrm{Ga}\\\mathrm{In}\end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix}\mathrm{S} \\\mathrm{Se}\\\mathrm{Te}\end{pmatrix}_2$

Possible combinations of Group-(XI, XIII, XVI)
elements in the periodic table that yield
a compound showing photovoltaic effect
(Cu, Ag, Au | Al, Ga, In | S, Se, Te).

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—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)

“The average Hollywood film star’s ambition is to be admired by an American, courted by an Italian, married to an Englishman and have a French boyfriend.”
—Katharine Hepburn (b. 1909)

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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom,”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)