Recent decades of research and development have produced highly sophisticated solar cells—or photovoltaic (PV) devices—that generated more than 1,000 terawatt-hours of electrical energy globally in 2022. This deployment has been accelerated by improvements in the design and performance of PV devices, as well as significant cost declines, achieved through innovative research in module, cell, and manufacturing of PV.
PV deployment must grow dramatically in the next few decades—to the multi-terawatt (TW) scale—to achieve a sustainable energy system. Given the urgency of this growth, continued solar cell innovation is crucial.
