What are the generations of solar cells?
First Generation: This term refers to the classic p-n junction photovoltaic. Typically, this is made from Silicon (multicrystalline and single crystalline) doped with other elements to make them preferentially positive (p) or negative (n) with respect to electronic charge carriers. However, in the past these devices were made from other materials like Germanium as well. Second Generation: Thin films of photon-absorbers and layered stacks of thin films. These families of devices are working toward the purest, most efficient capture of light and conversion to electricity. They are elegant and artful, and also delicate and difficult to scale up to industrial levels of production. If the First Gen cells can be viewed as analogous to Microsoft (in that they work, but not optimally), then these varieties are surely the Macintosh-version of solar cells. The materials used in these cells are often designer semiconductor films, and can combine multiple light absorbing materials in a “stack” of
