Abstract
This report provides a snapshot of emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies. It consists of concise contributions from experts in a wide range of fields including silicon, thin film, III-V, perovskite, organic, and dye-sensitized PVs. Strategies for exceeding the detailed balance limit and for light managing are presented, followed by a section detailing key applications and commercialization pathways. A section on sustainability then discusses the need for minimization of the environmental footprint in PV manufacturing and recycling. The report concludes with a perspective based on broad survey questions presented to the contributing authors regarding the needs and future evolution of PV.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 042301 |
| Number of pages | 51 |
| Journal | Journal of Photonics for Energy |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Dec 2023 |
Funding
This report was edited by Fatima Toor, Ifor D.W. Samuel, and Sean E. Shaheen. Annick Anctil acknowledges grant support from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET): Environmental Sustainability of Photovoltaics in the US (CAREER award no. 2044886). Raymond K. Kostuk and Benjamin D. Chrysler would like to acknowledge that the US NSF and DOE provided funding for the QESST Engineering Research Center (award no. EEC-1041895) for support of their research. Benjamin D. Chrysler would like to acknowledge support from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (award no. DGE-1143953). Hele Savin and Ville Vähänissi would like to acknowledge the provision of facilities and technical support by Micronova Nanofabrication Centre in Espoo, Finland, within the OtaNano research infrastructure at Aalto University. Hele Savin and Ville Vähänissi would also like to acknowledge funding provided by the Flagship on Photonics Research and Innovation “PREIN” (#346529) funded by the Research Council of Finland. H. Y. Woo acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (2019R1A6A1A11044070). This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the US DOE under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by the US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and the Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office under award nos. 38257 and 38266. NREL authors Duong Nguyen Minh and Joseph M. Luther also acknowledge support from the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund of the US Department of Defense. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US Government (USG). The USG retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the USG retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for USG purposes.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| QESST Engineering Research Center | DGE-1143953, EEC-1041895, 346529 |
| Research Council of Finland | |
| National Science Foundation | |
| U.S. Department of Defense | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC36-08GO28308 |
| Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems | 2044886 |
| National Renewable Energy Laboratory | |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office | 38266, 38257 |
| National Research Foundation of Korea | 2019R1A6A1A11044070 |
| Neurosciences Foundation |
Keywords
- agrivoltaics
- detailed balance
- indoor PV
- light management
- photovoltaics
- recycling
- solar cells
- sustainable manufacturing
- tandem PV
