Amorphous silicon solar cell technology has evolved considerably since
the first amorphous silicon solar cells were made at RCA Laboratories in
1974. Scien- tists working in a number of laboratories worldwide have
developed improved alloys based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon and
microcrystalline silicon. Other scientists have developed new methods
for growing these thin films while yet others have developed new
photovoltaic (PV) device structures with im- proved conversion
efficiencies. In the last two years, several companies have constructed
multi-megawatt manufacturing plants that can produce large-area,
multijunction amorphous silicon PV modules. A growing number of people
be- lieve that thin-film photovoltaics will be integrated into buildings
on a large scale in the next few decades and will be able to make a
major contribution to the world's energy needs. In this book, Ruud E. I.
Schropp and Miro Zeman provide an authoritative overview of the current
status of thin film solar cells based on amorphous and microcrystalline
silicon. They review the significant developments that have occurred
during the evolution of the technology and also discuss the most im-
portant recent innovations in the deposition of the materials, the
understanding of the physics, and the fabrication and modeling of the
devices.