Abstract:
Clean energy generation from photovoltaics (PV) has grown at a historic pace, reaching 7% of global electricity generation (2000 TWh) in 2024. PV is on track to be the largest renewable energy source by 2029. Today, silicon PV accounts for roughly 97% of the market share while thin-film PV (mainly CdTe) accounts for the remaining 3%. Silicon PV module prices recently reached a global average low price of <$0.15 per Watt (mainly driven by module production in China), making PV a competitive energy source compared to fossil fuels.
Research and development advances in thin-film PV (with focus on perovskite-based thin-film PV) suggest that novel thin-film PV technologies can not only offer even cheaper PV deployment but also at a lower carbon footprint compared to silicon PV. Perovskite-based thin- film PV has reached record efficiencies of 26.95%, approaching the silicon single-junction record of 27.81%.
The prospect of even more affordable PV technology will create new possibilities in emerging green and low-carbon markets.
Biography:
Vera Steinmann is a trained physicist with a Ph.D. in organic photovoltaics from Cologne University in Germany. She developed emerging inorganic thin-film absorbers during her postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Vera joined Kateeva (a Silicon Valley startup in the OLED display industry) in 2016, and has been with First Solar since 2019, working on emerging technologies. Vera has helped build and lead the internal perovskite team. Since 2022, Vera leads the external R&D investment program.