Solar energy will undoubtedly become a main source of energy in our life by the end of this century, but how big of a role will photovoltaics play in this new energy infrastructure? Besides cost and efficiency, there are other barriers for current solar cell technologies to become a noticeable source of energy in the future. Availability of raw materials, energy input, storage of solar electricity, and recycling of dead modules can all prevent or hinder a tangible impact by solar photovoltaics. This book is intended for readers with minimal technical background and aims to explore not only the fundamentals but also major issues in large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaics. Thought-provoking ideas to overcoming some of the barriers are discussed.

Examines the requirements for a terawatt-scale photovoltaic technology Discusses the fundamental bottlenecks for current photovoltaic technologies in becoming a notable source of energy Proposes several strategic research directions to remove some of these bottlenecks Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Dr. Meng Tao is currently a Professor in The School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University, and B.S. in Metallurgy from Jiangxi Institute of Metallurgy. His career includes nine years with The State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials at Zhejiang University and ten years as a professor of electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington. His current research covers a wide range of topics in terawatt solar photovoltaics including Earth-abundant active layer and transparent electrode in thin-film solar cells; substitution of silver electrode in silicon solar cells with Earth-abundant aluminum; energy-efficient electrorefining for solar-grade silicon and silicon module recycling; high-temperature silicon power devices for renewable energy systems; and solar-powered electrolysis for solar electricity storage. His research led to the demonstration of a silicon (100) surface free of surface states, enabling record-low and record-high Schottky barriers on silicon. His research also led to the development of consistent and predictive models for the growth behaviors of many chemical vapor deposition processes. He played a critical role in the establishment of the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium under SEMATECH in Albany, New York. Since 2006 he has been the lead organizer for the Electrochemical Society symposium series on Photovoltaics for the 21st Century.

Inhalt

1 The Grand Energy Challenge.- 2 Status of Solar Photovoltaics.- 3 Physics of Solar Cells.- 4 Manufacturing of Wafer-Si Solar Cells and Modules.- 5 Roadblocks to Terawatt Solar Photovoltaics.- 6 Pathways to Terawatt Solar Photovoltaics.- 7 Final Remarks.