A comparative study of degradation and performance of thin film photovoltaic generators versus a multi-crystalline generator

Thin film solar cells (TFSC) are supposed to have higher energy yield rates than crystalline silicon (Si-x) mainly possible by some enhancements like lower temperature coefficient and higher absorption of diffuse light. Although several papers deal with this topic, there are uncertainties and there is no conclusive outcome to their performance compared to Si-x. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the state of the art on this topic providing experimental data of degradation and performance of several commercially available TFSC generators (CdTe, CIGS, a-Si, a-Si/μSi) and a conventional Si-x. The energy yield of the TFSC generators during two years is compared to the Si-x one which is supposed to be the standard.