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Amorphous Silicon based Solar Cell Technologies: Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Rajeewa R. Arya
Rajeewa R. Arya*
Affiliation:
Arya International, Inc. P. O. Box 6852 Williamsburg, VA 23185 E-mail: rajiv_arya@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Advances in amorphous silicon solar cell and module development over the past two decades has led to widespread commercial application in consumer and building integrated photovoltaic applications (BIPV). The technology has taken two pathways: (i) superstrate and (ii) substrate. Both pathways have unique advantages over crystalline modules and have demonstrated promising stability and reliability with continuous improvement in performance. Multi-junction modules with amorphous and microcrystalline silicon have demonstrated initial conversion efficiencies in the range of 13%-13.5%.

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