MATERIALS IN SOLAR CELL TECHNOLOGY

Introduction:
For over a century fossil fuels have been a driving force of global economic influence
and political controversy as the primary worldwide fuel for energy production. Recognizing
fossil fuels as a finite resource, humanity has recently emphasized the development of alternative
ways to produce energy, such as: wind farms, nuclear power, and solar cells. None of these
technologies, however, produce enough energy per their respective cost to significantly compete
with and eventually replace fossil fuels as the major source of energy. Considering the current
materials used and design of solar cells, they are much too expensive for their inefficiencies in
energy production.
Solar cells are based around semiconductor technology and its potential to produce an
electric current when exposed to sunlight. Photons cause electrons in the valence band of the
material to jump across the band gap and into the conduction band. This process works best in
semiconductor materials that have a similar band gap energy to the energy of the photons. The
transfer of electrons induced by sunlight generates an electric current.
Solar cells may very well have the most potential for future development and
improvement, and sub sequentially the largest impact on the world. Is this because the sun is
getting stronger and/or closer to the Earth? Is the atmosphere becoming thinner and hence letting
more sunlight through? No. The future potential of solar cell technology is in the design of solar
cells, specifically with respect to the materials they are made out of. Those who study materials
understand the seemingly endless amount of new opportunities and discoveries that stem from
such a complex and broad field of science. When an open-ended field is combined with a
technology in need of improvement, one of a few prominent results is innovation. This is exactly
what scientists are striving for in performing research on the materials in solar cells: to create a

cheaper yet more productive photovoltaic cell. In doing so, they would defeat the negative
stigma surrounding solar cells in that they are inefficient and overpriced compared to fossil fuels,
and re-introduce them to the world as a more formidable opponent to oil and coal in efforts to
implement alternative energy technologies. CdTe/CdS cell designs and organic solar cell
technologies are a few of the materials-related concepts currently under focus.
Ongoing research in this field with respect to these topics and other concepts has
implications in science, the global economy, and international relations worldwide. This research
should be recognized for its significance and given attention as something that needs to be fully
understood. The purpose of this literature review is to shed some light on the science behind
this technology as well as delve into the work currently being done in this field, eventually
leading into the specifics of implications and long term goals of such research and
development.