The second generation, which has been under intense development during the 1990s and early 2000s, are low-cost, low-efficiency cells. These are most frequently thin film solar cells, designs that use minimal materials and cheap manufacturing processes.
The first generation of solar cells contains crystalline silicon cells. These cells are hard to build and they need sophisticated technologies. 42 As the second generation of solar cells, there are some other PV cells that can build easier but their efficiency might not be greater than or even equal to the first-generation PV cells.
The Second generation of solar cells deals with thin-film based technology such as CdTe, CIGS, a-Si. The third-generation of solar cells comprise of emerging technology including DSSC, QDs, PVSC. With the technological advancement, charge transport and optical coupling has been improved in fourth-generation of solar cells.
Second-generation solar cells are less efficient as only 20% efficiency has been reported for CIGS . It has a fast degradation phenomenon through induced light, which limits its outdoor applications. The availability of raw materials may also be a limiting factor in some technologies.
Hence, second generation of solar cells, manifested in the form of thin-film solar cells, are fabricated by stacking one or more thin-film layers on cheap substrates such as conductive oxide-coated glass or plastic.
Generation and the current market influence one another covered in the first two-generation (GEN) solar cell, among other things. Medium and low-cost technologies lead to moderate market yields for the first generation (mono or polycrystalline silicon cells).