What is the advantage of using amorphous silicon as the material for solar cell when compared with polycrystalline silicon?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: What is the advantage of using amorphous silicon as the material for a solar cell when compared with polycrystalline silicon?

Option 1: It can be formed at lower temperature
This is the commonly cited practical advantage. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) can be deposited at significantly lower temperatures than crystalline forms, allowing fabrication on inexpensive substrates like glass or plastic and enabling large-area, lightweight, flexible panels. This lowers manufacturing costs and enables new form factors.

Option 2: It is more efficient in converting light energy to electrical energy
This is not correct. Amorphous silicon generally has lower efficiency than polycrystalline silicon due to poorer crystal quality, more defect states, and broader recombination losses. While it can absorb light well, the conversion efficiency is typically lower than that of polycrystalline silicon under similar conditions.

Option 3: It is more stable
In fact, amorphous silicon is less stable over time. It experiences light-induced degradation (LID) where its efficiency decreases with illumination, and it also has issues with aging. Polycrystalline silicon tends to be more stable in long-term operation, so this is not an advantage of a-Si.

Option 4: It has lower internal resistance
Internal resistance is more a function of device design and quality of contacts; the material form (amorphous vs polycrystalline) does not inherently guarantee lower internal resistance. In many cases, a-Si devices can have similar or higher series resistance due to thinner active layers or different junction properties, so this is not a definitive advantage.

Summary of reasoning: The primary practical advantage of amorphous silicon over polycrystalline silicon lies in processing temperature and substrate flexibility. The lower deposition temperatures enable cheap, large-area production on diverse substrates, which is the key driver for choosing a-Si in certain applications. The other statements describe disadvantages or non-unique attributes, making them incorrect as general advantages.

EESM5200 (L1) Part I: Topic 9 - Optical Properties of PN Junction

What is the advantage of using amorphous silicon as the material for solar cell when compared with polycrystalline silicon?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

In a consumer society, many adults channel creativity into buying things

Economic stress and unpredictable times have resulted in a booming industry for self-help products

People born without creativity never can develop it

A product has a selling price of $20, a contribution margin ratio of 40% and fixed cost of $120,000. To make a profit of $30,000. The number of units that must be sold is: Type the number without $ and a comma. Eg: 20000

Which of the following statement regarding cost is correct:

Under the assumptions used in cost-volume-profit analysis, as the activity increases:

The CVP and break-even analysis are supported by a range of important assumptions. Which of the following is not an assumption of the CVP:

The break-even point is that at which:

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler