Amorphous silicon solar cell

Thin film solar cells, ∼1 μm thick, have been fabricated from amorphous silicon deposited from a glow discharge in silane. The cells were made in a p-i-n structure by using doping gases in the discharge. The best power conversion efficiency to date is 2.4% in AM-1 sunlight. The maximum efficiency of thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells is estimated to be ∼14–15%.