2. Technology courses

2.1 First generation: wafer silicon technology

Figure 3 shows the development of photovoltaic module production by technology since 2011. It clearly shows that crystalline silicon, mono (sc-Si) or multi (mc-Si), is the main base material for module production, compared with thin-film modules (CIGS, CdTe...). In fact, this is hardly surprising, since silicon is one of the most abundant elements on earth, perfectly stable both thermally and chemically, and non-toxic. Its physico-chemistry is very well mastered, thanks to the extensive knowledge acquired in the field of microelectronics. While multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si)...