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williamcheong
Hi all, I'm newly joined this place.
I wish to consult experts here about the common types of materials used in photovoltaic module, and the particular constraints, for organic and inorganic categories.
Thanks!
Rgds, william.

Enthalpy
Amorphous silicon.
Polycrystalline silicon.

These above are used for terrestrial applications. Following ones are on satellites because less mass (thanks to higher efficiency) pays for higher costs:

Monocrystalline silicon.
(Monocrystalline) Gallium arsenide.
(Monocrystalline) Indium phosphide.

Though, with concentrators on terrestrial plants, monocrystalline cells combine better.

Organic: to my knowledge, this is laboratory development up to now. Not even the stacking of several materials has really come out of the lab.

By the way, solar thermal energy is better than photovoltaic if the application allows it.
williamcheong
I read from some articles that, organic pv is in use, as the polymer is very thinfilm structure, make it feasible to be used in many application, such as the solar powered calculator. Is this true?
Enthalpy
I didn't read this state-of-the-art in detail recently.

But if you want to know what exists on the market, read catalogues. Don't read articles, they describe lab research.
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