Asia Photovoltaics
Through the photovoltaic effect, electrons in the semiconductor (photoactive) material are energized by photons from incident solar or simulated light and ejected to form a direct current and corresponding voltage. The most common semiconductive materials that have both exhibited the photovoltaic effect and are used for commercial photovoltaics manufacturing include crystalline silicon (both monocrystalline and polycrystalline [polysilicon]), germanium, gallium – arsenic compounds (gallium arsenide; GaAs), indium phosphorous compounds (indium phosphide; InP), other III-V compounds, cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper – indium – selenium (CIS; also including gallium – CIGS; also including sulfur – CIGSS), amorphous silicon (a-Si; aSi), microcrystalline silicon (m-Si, mc-Si, µc-Si), dyes, and organic semiconductive polymers. Photovoltaic technology is produced from either a crystalline silicon wafer (thick film; c-Si photovoltaics) or from deposited thin films (thin film photovoltaics).
