ABSTRACT
Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells directly convert sunlight into electricity using the photovoltaic effect. PV cells are assembled into modules to build modular arrays that generate electricity in both grid-connected and off-grid applications. Commercial PV technologies include: wafer-based crystalline silicon (c-Si); and thin films (TFs). A PV system also converts diffuse irradiation so the calculated direct normal irradiation (DNI) values need to be converted into the global tilted irradiation value (GTI) depending on the solar angles at the particular time of the day. Many toxic chemicals are used during the manufacture of PV cells. A report by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) says that there may be no cause for alarm about their impact in countries with well-regulated environmental pollution regimes, but such strict monitoring and controls are not necessarily in force everywhere.
