Paper
Pathways for solar photovoltaics
Published Apr 2, 2015 · J. Jean, Patrick R. Brown, R. Jaffe
Energy and Environmental Science
398
Citations
12
Influential Citations
Abstract
Solar energy is one of the few renewable, low-carbon resources with both the scalability and the technological maturity to meet ever-growing global demand for electricity. Among solar power technologies, solar photovoltaics (PV) are the most widely deployed, providing 0.87% of the world's electricity in 2013 and sustaining a compound annual growth rate in cumulative installed capacity of 43% since 2000. Given the massive scale of deployment needed, this article examines potential limits to PV deployment at the terawatt scale, emphasizing constraints on the use of commodity and PV-critical materials. We propose material complexity as a guiding framework for classifying PV technologies, and we analyze three core themes that focus future research and development: efficiency, materials use, and manufacturing complexity and cost.
Highly CitedSolar photovoltaics can meet global demand for electricity, but future research and development must focus on efficiency, materials use, and manufacturing complexity and cost to overcome material constraints and achieve terawatt scale deployment.
Full text analysis coming soon...