Advanced Concepts in Photovoltaics

Over the past several years, developments in photovoltaic (PV) solar cells have enabled enormous progress to occur in reducing the cost of PV electrical energy ($/kWh) such that it is rapidly approaching the cost of electrical energy produced by power plants fuelled by coal, natural gas, and nuclear reactors; this cost goal is generally termed ‘achieving grid parity’. In 1977, when U.S…