PV Devices
Photovoltaic devices can be made from various types of semiconductor materials, deposited or arranged in various structures, to produce solar cells that have optimal performance.
In this section, we first review the three main types of materials used for solar cells. The first type is silicon, which can be used in various forms, including single-crystalline, multicrystalline, and amorphous. The second type is polycrystalline thin films, with specific discussion of copper indium diselenide (CIS) cadmium telluride (CdTe), and thin-film silicon. Finally, the third type of material is single-crystalline thin film, focusing especially on cells made with gallium arsenide.
We then discuss the various ways that these materials are arranged to make complete solar devices. The four basic structures we describe include homojunction, heterojunction, p-i-n and n-i-p, and multijunction devices.