Cadmium Telluride Thin Film Solar Panel

First solar a us based manufacturer makes attractive pv modules that can be used in home applications.

Cadmium telluride thin film solar panel.

Cdte thin film panels are made from several thin layers. Cadmium telluride solar cells use low cost manufacturing technology to produce low cost cells. Cadmium telluride pv is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi kilowatt systems. There are four types of substrates used including.

As the second most common photovoltaic technology on the market behind traditional crystalline silicon cadmium telluride cdte panels are already a viable thin film solar panel solution. Normally thin film cells have quite a bit lower efficiency than c si cells but the latest products from first solar have a 14 efficiency which is pretty close to polycrystalline cells. Cadmium telluride photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. On a lifecycle basis cdte pv has the smallest carbon footprint lowest water use and shortest energy payback time of any current photo voltai.

Solar photovoltaic technology that is based on cadmium is considered as a thin film technology due to its active layers which are just a few microns thick or about a 10 diameter of human hair. This type of substrate is the most used with manufacturing thin film solar panels and holds 50 percent of market share. Cadmium telluride cdte is the most common type of thin film solar cell in production. As with most thin film solar technologies carrier collection is accomplished by drift or field assisted.

The most common cdte solar cells consist of a simple p n heterojunction structure containing a p doped cdte layer matched with an n doped cadmium sulfide cds layer which acts as a window layer. An issue with using thin film panels with a cdte is that they contain a large amount of cadmium which is a toxic element. How are thin solar panels made. Thin film solar panels are differentiated by the type of substrate that is used in their manufacturing.

This structure is similar to the heterojunction in cigs cells.