Silicon Solar Cells: Trends, Manufacturing Challenges, and AI Perspectives

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) installations have experienced significant growth in the past 20 years. During this period, the solar industry has witnessed technological advances, cost reductions, and increased awareness of renewable energy’s benefits. As more than 90% of the commercial solar cells in the market are made from silicon, in this work we will focus on silicon-based solar cells. As PV research is a very dynamic field, we believe that there is a need to present an overview of the status of silicon solar cell manufacturing (from feedstock production to ingot processing to solar cell fabrication), including recycling and the use of artificial intelligence. Therefore, this work introduces the silicon solar cell value chain with cost and sustainability aspects. It provides an overview of the main manufacturing techniques for silicon ingots, specifically Czochralski and directional solidification, with a focus on highlighting their key characteristics. We discuss the major challenges in silicon ingot production for solar applications, particularly optimizing production yield, reducing costs, and improving efficiency to meet the continued high demand for solar cells. We review solar cell technology developments in recent years and the new trends. We briefly discuss the recycling aspects, and finally, we present how digitalization and artificial intelligence can aid in solving some of the current PV industry challenges.

Nanoscale Cu2ZnSnSxSe(4−x) (CZTS/Se) for Sustainable Solutions in Renewable Energy, Sensing, and Nanomedicine

“…To date, solar cell development and conceptualization has evolved through three generations. The first development, Si-based solar cells, which use crystalline and polycrystalline silicon as the solar absorber and are commercially available, are becoming almost ubiquitous in housing and commercial applications [8][9][10]. However, the large footprint and rigid design of silicon solar panels drove interest in lightweight, flexible substates, as support for the solar absorber, which led to the research and development of thin film technologies, starting with emulating silicon, via amorphous silicon thin film.…”