ABSTRACT
Since the discovery of photoelectric transducers (PTs) based on monocrystalline silicon more than half a century ago, these devices have become key materials for the state-of-the-art photoelectric industry due to their high reliability and considerable energy conversion efficiency. However, the cost of reclaimed grade silicon wafers for solar energy conversion applications slows down the widespread use of silicon PT. In order to find a less expensive solution, much effort was put into the development of cheaper thin-film PT technology, which uses amorphous and polycrystalline silicon, cadmium and indium telluride, and gallium selenide sensitized dyes based on polymer materials. In addition, new designs of PT were suggested that exploit nontraditional approaches and allow a decrease in cost while increasing the efficiency of the solar cells (Alferov et al. 2004; Goetzberger et al. 2003; Goswami et al. 2004; Green 2003a).
