PV for buildings

Thin-film technology based on amorphous silicon (a-Si) offers a range of attractive features that are ideally suited for building-integrated photovoltaic installations (BIPV). Solar modules may be assembled to customer-specific BIPV elements for roofs and facades, and thus may combine various functions, namely electricity generation, thermal insulation, shading, and even satisfy aspects of architectural design. Compared to other PV technologies, a-Si modules show only a minor reduction in power output at elevated temperatures, and in efficiency at lower light levels, and thus offer superior energy yields per peak power. H. Maurus, M. Schmid, B. Blersch, P. Lechner, and H. Schade, RWE SCHOTT Solar GmbH, Germany report.

[1]  Alain Ricaud,et al.  Progress in Manufacturing at the Megawatt Level of a-Si Based PV Technology , 1991 .

[2]  A. Shah,et al.  Intrinsic microcrystalline silicon (/spl mu/c-Si:H)-a promising new thin film solar cell material , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE 1st World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion - WCPEC (A Joint Conference of PVSC, PVSEC and PSEC).

[3]  Sigurd Wagner,et al.  Carrier lifetime model for the optical degradation of amorphous silicon solar cells , 1985 .

[4]  P. Lechner,et al.  Thin film solar modules based on amorphous and microcrystalline silicon , 2003, 3rd World Conference onPhotovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003. Proceedings of.