Solar Energy: Photovoltaic Materials, Devices, and Modules

In the second course of the Solar Energy program, you will apply the design rules for a solar cell, mastered in the first course, on various photovoltaic (PV) technologies from cell up to module level.

You will be introduced to crystalline silicon, the leading technology on the market. We will cover the manufacturing process from sand to cell and from cell to module, as well as high-efficiency concepts.

You will also be familiarized with thin-film PV technologies, which are an alternative to crystalline silicon technology (III-V semiconductor materials, thin-film silicon, and chalcogenides like CdTe and CIGS, organics and perovskites materials will be covered.) The device architectures and processing methods of the PV technologies will be reviewed as well as novel future concepts for going beyond the conventional limits.

Finally, various metrics will be applied to compare different PV technologies. These are related to performance, costs, reliability and you will be able to evaluate the advantages and limitations of different PV technologies and their applications.