Thin Film Photovoltaics

Thin films are considered a potentially attractive technological approach to making cost-effective electricity by photovoltaics. Over the last twenty years, many have been investigated and some (cadmium telluride, copper indium diselenide, amorphous silicon) have become leading candidates for future large-scale commercialization. This paper surveys the past development of these key thin films andgives their status and future prospects. In all cases, significant progress toward cost-effective PV electricity has been made. If this progress continues, it appears that thin film PV could provide electricity that is competitive for summer daytime peaking power requirements by the middle of the 1990s; and electricity in a range that is competitive with fossil fuel costs (i.e., 6cents/kilowatt-hour) should be available from PV around the tum of the century.