The path to 25% silicon solar cell efficiency: History of silicon cell evolution

Abstract The first silicon solar cell was reported in 1941 and had less than 1% energy conversion efficiency compared to the 25% efficiency milestone reported in this paper. Standardisation of past measurements shows there has been a 57% improvement between confirmed results in 1983 and the present result. The features of the cell structure responsible for the most recent performance increase are described and the history of crystalline and multicrystalline silicon cell efficiency evolution is documented. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.