Inorganic Photovoltaic Materials

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been remarkable progress in the field of photovoltaics, direct conversion of essentially limitless (sun)light into electricity using semiconductor materials. These include significant advances in materials processing and improvements in device efficiencies, and steep declines in the materials and processing costs. The commercialized PV technologies so far all utilize inorganic semiconductors as solar absorbers due to their notable advantages such as record high power conversion efficiencies, low cost, and durability. However, significant challenges remain including material and performance deficiencies of the state‐of‐the‐art inorganic photovoltaic materials. The emerging novel inorganic semiconductors aim to address some of the key issues of commercialized photovoltaic materials. This article reviews established inorganic photovoltaic materials and new candidate photovoltaic materials with a focus on their crystal chemistry.