Research on developing new technologies/material and increasing the efficiency of existing technologies make solar energy cheaper and

the conversion process more efficient With the advancement of science and modern technologies, the methodologies adopted for producing energy from solar resource, are becoming highly efficient and cost-effective as compared to the existing conventional energy generation sources due to the high cost of fossil fuels. Endless research efforts are aimed at developing and fine-tuning new ways to make solar power increasingly competitive with traditional energy. The efficiency of a solar cell in converting solar energy depends on the type of material used as well as the structure and design of the cell. Usually, the efficiency of a complete module is lower than the cell efficiency because of the light absorption glass cover and encapsulation and the unused area between and around the PV cell. The most common solar cell material is crystalline silicon, but newer materials for making solar cells include thin-film materials such as amorphous silicon and cadmium telluride. More recently, solar companies have begun to use plastic and aluminum foil to produce solar electricity, but it may be several years before these new products become available to consumers. Solar technologies: Most common solar technologies that already got the commercial approval are: Bulk Silicon Technology: The technology using a large number of semiconductor material are called Bulk silicon technology. This technology uses: i) Mono- Crystalline silicon: Mono- Crystalline PV cells are made of a single crystal of silicon. This is a common choice for concentrator cells. These cells have typical commercial efficiency of 18-24%. They are used by BP Solar (Aust, Spain), Siemens ( Germany, USA), Weistinghouse (USA), and others. Poly- Crystalline silicon: Multiple crystals are used to make the PV cells, but they are less efficient than the mono-crystalline cells because of the electronic defects such as dangling bonds. Its typical commercial cell efficiency is 14-17% %. They are used by Solarex (Aust, USA), Kyocera ( Japan), Osaka ( Japan), and others. [www.greenworldinvestor.com] High Efficiency Cells: Laser grooved buried contact cells: The buried contact solar cell is a high efficiency commercial solar cell technology based on a plated metal contact inside a laser-formed groove. The buried contact technology overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with screen-printed contacts and this allows buried contact solar cell to have performance up to 25% better than commercial screen-printed solar cells. A key high efficiency feature of the of the buried contact solar cell is that the

ii)

iii)

metal is buried in a laser-formed groove inside the silicon solar cell. This allows for a large metal height-to-width aspect ratio. The Laser Grooved Buried Contact (LGBC) process has been successful in producing one sun solar cell with high efficiency in a high volume manufacturing plant of 30 MWp p.a. in Tres Cantos, Spain.[1] This process is particularly suitable for production of concentrator cell, whose efficiency can be varies from 18to 20%with or without or with prismatic covers. [2,3] [1] N Mason et al., Proceedings of the 19th European PVSEC ,2004, p2653 [2] T M Bruton et. el, Proceedings of the 19th European PVSEC ,1994, p531 [3] N Mason et al., Proceedings of the 19th European PVSEC ,1997, p352

Multijunction Technology: Another strategy is to use two or more layers of different materials with different band gaps to capture sunlight in different spectrums which results in higher conversion efficiency. There are a number of companies which have been working and claiming high efficiencies in the 40% range. Boeing Subsidiary had created a record a couple of years ago with a 39.2% multi junction solar cell.These cells are primarily used in spacecraft where low space requirements require the use of high efficiency cells without major cost considerations.Spectrolab has continued to improve on the efficiency of the cells reaching 41.6% in a NREL Lab Test.Some other companies are also claiming higher than 40% efficiency solar cells using concentrators on multijunction solar cells.

Thin-Film Technology: These flexible solar panels are made by spreading silicon and other solar-producing materials in a very thin layer (about the thickness of a human hair) directly onto a large plate that is usually made of glass or ceramics. Less efficient than silicon solar panels, thin-film solar panels are also less expensive to produce. The thin material of these solar panels makes them ideal as building-integrated solar products such as solar shingles and tiles. The most successful thin-film materials are Amorphous silicon ( has commercial efficiency of 4to 9 %), cadmium telluride, and copper indium Di-selenide. Efficiencies range from 10% to 19%. A final complicating factor is that a new generation of nanoscale thin-film technologies now could significantly increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of producing solar power.

Electrolyte Technologies: Titania Cell Technology: A different class of photovoltaic device uses a photosensitive dye for capturing light energy. Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs) were invented 20 years ago. They are composed of semiconductor nanocrystals (typically titanium dioxide, or titania) that are coated with dye molecules and sandwichedalong with an electrolytebetween glass or plastic sheets. The dye

absorbs light and creates electrons and positively charged holes. The crystals transfer the electrons to one electrode to produce an electrical current, while the electrolyte carries the holes to the other electrode. Researchers have moved a step closer to overcoming one of the key hurdles to developing low-cost solar cells based on dye-coated titanium dioxide. Researchers at Stanford University have used a specially designed metal reflector to boost the efficiency of solid electrolyte dye-sensitized solar cells by as much as 20 percent. The reflector is a thin silver film with an array of nanoscale bumps. [http://www.technologyreview.] Concentrated solar thermal power : More efficiency can be gained using concentrating solar PV (CPV), where some kind of parabolic mirror tracks the sun and increases the intensity of the solar radiation up to 1000-fold. Modules are typically 35-50 kW. . In the USA Boeing has licensed its XR700 highconcentration PV (HCPV) technology to Stirling Energy Systems with a view to commercializing it for plants under 50 MWe from 2012. The HCPV cells in 2009 achieved a world record for terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency, at 41.6%. [http://www.solarpaces.org/CSP_Technology]

Technological Advancement: There are few advanced technologies for Single axis tracking like parabolic trough technology, Linear Fresnel reflector technologies, solar roof, etc. For Two axis tracking the technologies are: Paraboloidal dishes (SG3 ANU dish, Boeing SES dish), Single tower for central generation, Distributed tower systems, etc. [ D. Mills, Solar Energy 76,pp. 1931,2004.] Organic Photovoltaic cell: The organic photovoltaics cell (OPVC) is very promising owing to their potential of providing environmentally safe, flexible, lightweight, and inexpensive photovoltaic cell. Organic semiconducting materials can produce lectricity via the photovoltaic effect, with the field generally called organic photovoltaics (OPV) [1].OPV has the potential to offer low cost, mass produced,photovoltaic (PV) energy generation [2].However, the field of organic photovoltaics cell (OPVC) is young, exciting, and full of promise. What is needed is a photovoltaic device having efficient light absorption in thin photosensitive layers, resulting in high energyconversion efficiency, with attendant materials and cost saving merits [3]. The straightforward technique to improve the photon absorption is the increase of thickness of the absorbing/active layer. However, this thickness is generally restricted (<150 nm) by the limited charge carrier mobility [4]. A potential alternative to increase the photon density is the light guiding to the active layers. The use of light guiding systems can increase the total path length of light into the active material without the need of increasing its physical thickness.

The catagories for OPVCs are Single layer cell, Two-layer cell, Three layer solar cell, Stacked organic solar cells, Tandem organic PV cell
This stacked structure is equal to two single cells in series, so the open circuit voltage is improved, and The short circuit current is also improved [ D. Cheyns, H. Gommans, M. Odijk,J. Poortmans and P. Heremans, // SolMat. & Sol. Cells 91 (2007) 399.].

Tandem cell is the improved version of stacked cell where different active materials are used for the different cells of the device. It has developed to increase the photon absorption by stacking two or more single cell in series connection in which active polymer with different absorption characteristics are linked to use a wider range of the PV spectrum.[ T. Ameri, G. Dennler, C. Lungenschmied and C. J. Brabec // Energy Environ. Sci. 2 (2009) 347].

[1] C.W. Tang // Appl. Phys. Lett. 48, (1986) 183. [2] E. Kymakis and G. A. J. Amaratunga // Rev.Adv. Mater. Sci. 10 (2005) 300. [3] A. Narayanaswamy and G. Chen // Appl.Phys. Lett. 82 (2003) 3544. [4] J-J. Simon, L. Escoubas, F. Monestier,P. Torchio and F. Flory // Int. J. Mater. Prod.Technol 34 (2009) 469. Spire Semiconductor : It has set a new world record for solar cell efficiency. The company, which has been working with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under an 18 month incubator project, produced a triple-junction cell with 42.3 per cent conversion efficiency.[www.optics.org] Future Solar Panels: New solar materials that are emerging, include lightweight foil-based panels, plastic collectors, and hybrid solar electric/solar water heating collectors. The new hybrid systems capture hot air from the solar electric panels and use it to heat water.

Other energy efficient materials: The other technological energy efficient approaches include Electric Vehicle,smart fridge, smart meter, Vanadium flow batteries Flywheels, and what not.