Recent progress of thin film solar cells

During recent months it has become possible to make thin-film solar cells with conversion efficiencies greater than 5 percent and areas as large as 50 cm². The state of the art in this field is reviewed and solar cells using thin films of CdS, CdTe and GaAs are discussed in detail. The fabrication, structure and properties of these cells are described with emphasis on solar conversion efficiency, specific power to weight ratio, environmental stability and cost. Finally, the characteristics of thin film cells are compared to those of currently available single crystal Si cells and the possibilities for future improvement are outlined.