Besides crystalline silicon what? There are just a handful of alternatives among the thousands of soon-to-be-patented or patented solar photovoltaic technologies that fit the bill.
Some such promising technologies are: copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS), Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), thin-film silicon (TF-Si), concentrated PV (CPV), organic PV (OPV), dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS), quantum dot (QD), and perovskite.
Shanghai, China, -based Innova Research recently published a report titled Chasing the Sun: Searching for Game Changers in Disruptive Photovoltaic Technologies which rates these technologies on the basis of research and patenting they have attracted.
ALSO READ: Swiss CIGS module maker Flisom receives $10.7 mn funds from Tata, investors
The market research firm claims to have analyzed more than 10,000 patents filed by global alternative solar photovoltaic technology developers between 2010 and 2014 to base its conclusion that CIGS and CPV are the top alternatives.
According to the report, CIGS and CPV were the technologies that grew most in patent application numbers filed between 2010 and 2014. The two technologies recorded compounded annual growth rates close to 30 percent. At the same time the other technologies together recorded growth at CAGR of 24 percent for the same period.
Of the lot, TF-Si was the technology which showed negative growth in patent publications since 2011. Interest in the technology has waned owing to the difficulty in drawing efficiency of 10 percent from large-area TF-Si modules.
Then among third generation photovoltaic technologies, the report says, OPV, DSSC, and QD are the most popular in patent publications. Annual patent publications for these technologies grew to more than 300 in 2012, the report says.
Among countries filing for patents of these photovoltaic technologies The US, China, Japan, and South Korea led the pack. The countries were also noted to be focused on different alternative solar technologies.
US companies showed interest in technologies with greater commercial potential such as CdTe, CIGS, and CZTS.
In China and Korea universities and research institutes were showing greater interest in alternative solar technologies. They focused on other budding technologies including DSSC, QD, and perovskite.
In Japan big industries including Sharp, Toyota, Kyocera, and Fujifilm were leading research in alternative solar technologies, according to the report.
ALSO READ: Global concentrated photovoltaic market to grow at CAGR of 13.9%
The other findings of the report were:
# Patents addressed problems for different alternative solar technologies were uneven in development stages
# Thin-film and CPV are ready for or on the verge of large-scale applications and therefore drew more attention from industry players
# Patents in TF and CPV technology focused on cheaper alternatives to bring costs down
# Research in third generation solar technologies focused on improving efficiency and stabilization of systems rather than commercialization
# Thin-film and CPV technologies are poised for large commercialization in the near future while the 3rd generation PV technologies still have a long way to go towards that goal
# Technologies with the greatest potential for mass commercialization are CIGS and high-concentrating PV owing to low cost
Ajith Kumar S