History of the amorphous silicon on crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell

Abstract

Some  commercially  available  solar  panels  with very  high  efficiencies  for  terrestrial  photovoltaic  applications are   based   on   the   amorphous   silicon   on   crystalline   silicon material  system.    This  type  of  heterostructure  has  a  more  than 40  years  old  history.  The  early  development  of  the  technology and the results, obtained in the last years with this type of solar cell  are  reviewed.  In  particular  it  is  demonstrated  how  the physical  understanding  of  the  interface  properties  and  band-structure  was  important  for  the development  of  high  efficiency solar cells.