Single-crystal silicon cell

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Most photovoltaic cells are single-crystal types. To make them, silicon is purified, melted, and crystallized into ingots. The ingots are sliced into thin wafers to make individual cells. The cells have a uniform color, usually blue or black.

The majority of PV cells produced today use crystalline silicon (c-Si) as it is a light absorbing semiconductor. The c-Si technology was originally developed for the semiconductor industry to produce PV cells for integrated circuits and microchips. These PV cells have energy conversion efficiencies between 11 percent and 16 percent. The energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of incident sunlight converted into electricity. While the efficiency of c-Si is high, it absorbs light poorly and requires many layers to perform efficiently in solar applications.