Introduction

Photovoltaic term comes from the Greek word Phos meaning light and from Volt,
the unit of electro-motive force, the volt. Photovoltaic or PV is a method of generating
electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity by using
semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect refers to photon
of light exciting electrons into a higher state of energy, allowing them to act as charge
carriers for an electric current. The photovoltaic effect was first observed by Alexandre-
Edmond Becquerel in 1839.
It is widely accepted that solar cells can be broadly categorized into one of three
technology generations. First generation cells are crystalline. Second generation cells are
amorphous thin films of silicon and other materials meant to reduce costs normally associated
with conventional semiconductor wafer production. The definition of third generation
technology, however, is less clear, with the moniker third generation usually reserved for
so-called Emerging PV technologies. This group is sometimes described as including any
technology capable of overcoming the ShockleyQueisser limit of power conversion
efficiency (33.7 %) for a single junction device. Most technologists would also include broad
classes of other conversion devices including non-semiconductors such as polymer and dye-
sensitized cells, tandem cells built from stacks of conventional materials (such as amorphous
silicon or gallium arsenide), and nanotechnology. (S, DON, Nanotech Electronic Products,
2009)
Photovoltaic cell uses photovoltaic materials such as monocrystalline silicon,
polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium
selenite or sulphide which are semiconductors. These photovoltaic materials produce direct
current electricity (DC) from sunlight which can be used to power equipment or to charge a
battery. The first practical application was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft
but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power generation.
In this case inverted is used to convert DC to AC supply. (R, BEELER PV Cell, 2002)
The operation of photovoltaic cells contains three basic attributes.
The absorption of light, generating either electron-hole pairs or excitons
The separation of charge carriers to opposite types
The separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit.
Emerging Photovoltaic technologies are widely used by well-developed and
developing countries like United States of America, Australia, Singapore, Dubai, France,
Japan and China. One of the main applications of this technology is in power stations. Many
solar photovoltaic power stations have been built mainly in Europe. As for July 2012, the
largest PV power plants in the world are the Agua Caliente Solar Project in USA, Charanka
Solar Park in India, Golmund Solar Park in China and many more. There are also many large
plants under construction. The power source gained through the PV technology is converted
in AC supply by using specific inventor and then directed to the transformers before
distributing to housing and industrial areas. Many of these power plants are integrated with
the agriculture and some use of innovative tracking system that follows the suns daily path
across the sky to generate more efficient and consistent electricity than conventional fixed-
mountain system. There are no fuel costs or emissions during operation of the power station.
Next, PV technologies are used in buildings, its either integrated into them, mounted
on them or mounted nearby on the ground. Arrays are most often retrofitted into existing
buildings, usually mounted on top of the existing building roof structure or on the existing
walls. Alternatively, an array can also be located separately from the building but connected
by cable to supply power for the building up to 150MWatt.
Besides that, PV has traditionally been used for electrical power in space. PV is rarely
used to provide motive power in transport application but is being used increasingly to
provide auxiliary power in boats and cars which are called as hybrids. Some automobiles are
fitted with solar powered air conditioning to limit interior temperatures on hot days. Other
than that, PV technology is used frequently to power calculators and novelty devices which
are called as standalone devices. Improvement s on this emerging PV technology in
integrated circuits and low power crystal displays make it possible to power such devices for
several years between battery and solar powers.
Moreover PV technology is used in rural electrification. Unlike the past decade,
which saw solar solutions purchased mainly by international donors, it is now the locals who
are increasingly opening wallets to make switch from traditional energy means. That is
because solar products prices in recent years have declined to become cheaper than kerosene
and batteries. For example, villagers in Cambodia buy a solar lantern at cheaper price and use
it for years without any extra costs where their previous spending on kerosene for lighting
was very high. Developing countries where many villages are often more than five kilometres
away from grid power are increasingly using PV. Lastly, emerging PV technology is used in
transportation placed in service the nations first photovoltaic system in USA for highway
right-of-way. The 104kWatt array produces enough electricity to offset approximately one-
third of the electricity needed to light the interstate highway interchange where it is located.
Highways are strategic place to set up solar power arrays since they are generally
unobstructed to the sun and represent about the percentage of land area needed to replace
other energy sources.
Emerging photovoltaic will play a significant role in fulfilling our present needs as
well as those of future generations. It will help in term of energy demand, economic growth
and also environmental effect. According to World Energy Council, global energy R&D
expenditures are far behind in facing the upcoming challenges. Potential benefits may be
provided by new cross technologies that no single technology can match. For example,
hydrogen as an energy carrier and sensors and power electronics to improve system
efficiency. Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and c-Si which is a leading PV manufacturing
technology each return only 60-100 pubs/year, and the digit didnt change for past years. In
contrast, the next generation technologies such as DSC and OPV have grown rapidly which
currently averages ~1500 pubs/year. In recent years, few ways is being found to increase the
efficiency of quantum dot cells. For example, the development of tandem layer quantum dots
and coupling of energy and electron transfer processes in quantum dot.



European annual PV market scenarios until 2017 -
Business-as-Usual and Policy-Driven (MW)