Thin film photovoltaics [solar cells]

The use of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices as cost-effective electricity sources is discussed, focusing on cadmium telluride, copper indium diselenide, and amorphous silicon, which have become leading candidates for future large-scale commercialization. This work surveys the past development of these key films and gives their status and future prospects. In all cases, significant progress toward cost-effective PV electricity has been made. It is concluded that thin-film PV could provide electricity that is competitive for summer daytime peak power requirements by the middle of the 1990s, and that electricity in a range that is competitive with fossil fuel costs (i.e. 6 cents/kW-hr) should be available from PV around the turn of the century