Photovoltaic power generation production of monocrystalline silicon panels

What is the environmental impact of monocrystalline silicon PV cells?

Chen et al. (2016) evaluated the environmental impact of the production process of monocrystalline silicon PV cells in China, which showed that due to the consumption of silver paste, electricity and glass, the impacts caused by human toxicity, marine ecotoxicity and metal depletion are dominant to the overall environmental impact.

Why are crystalline silicon based solar cells dominating the global solar PV market?

Currently, the crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based solar cells are still dominating the global solar PV market because of their abundance, stability, and non-toxicity. 1, 2 However, the conversion efficiency of PV cells is constrained by the spectral mismatch losses, non-radiative recombination and strong thermalisation of charge carriers.

What is a monocrystalline silicon solar cell?

Monocrystalline silicon solar cells involve growing Si blocks from small monocrystalline silicon seeds and then cutting them to form monocrystalline silicon wafers, which are fabricated using the Czochralski process (Figure 4 a). Monocrystalline material is widely used due to its high efficiency compared to multicrystalline material.

What is a crystalline silicon PV cell?

The crystalline silicon PV cell is one of many silicon-based semiconductor devices. The PV cell is essentially a diode with a semiconductor structure (Figure 1), and in the early years of solar cell production, many technologies for crystalline silicon cells were proposed on the basis of silicon semiconductor devices.

Why are polycrystalline silicon PV panels more expensive than monocrystalline PV panels?

It is mainly because the total environmental impact of the life cycle of polycrystalline silicon PV panels is higher than that of monocrystalline silicon PV panels, and the higher IPCE brings about the relatively higher cost of monocrystalline silicon PV panels.

What are crystalline silicon solar cells?

Crystalline silicon solar cells are today’s main photovoltaic technology, enabling the production of electricity with minimal carbon emissions and at an unprecedented low cost. This Review discusses the recent evolution of this technology, the present status of research and industrial development, and the near-future perspectives.