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The global energy demands are predicted to reach 46 terawatts by 2100. Solar photovoltaics has to be deployed at a scale of tens of peak terawatts in order to meet a meaningful portion of the demands. The enormous scale required creates a number of roadblocks for photovoltaic technologies, which are unprecedented in other semiconductor technologies. Some of the roadblocks include scarce raw materials in today’s solar cells, high energy input for silicon cells, recyclability of solar cells/modules, storage of intermittent solar electricity, and high production/installation costs for solar cells/modules. In this talk, we will present an analysis, as quantitative as possible, on some of these roadblocks under the best scenarios, i.e. the maximum possible wattage from each of the current commercial cell technologies. Without significant technological breakthroughs, these cell technologies combined would not be able to make a noticeable impact on our energy mix or carbon emission. Several strategic R&D directions are identified for a scalable and sustainable solar photovoltaic technology. The second part of the talk will provide an overview of the research portfolio in the Laboratory for Terawatt Photovoltaics at Arizona State University. Several current research projects are highlighted including a zinc/zinc oxide loop for terawatt-scale storage of solar electricity, silver-free all-aluminum terawatt-capable silicon solar cells, electrorefining of metallurgical-grade silicon for solar-grade silicon, value-added recycling of silicon cells/modules, module standardization through cell efficiency uniformization, and smart load management in solar photovoltaic systems. |
