Second generation materials have been developed to address energy requirements and production costs of solar cells. Alternative manufacturing techniques such as vapour deposition, electroplating, and use of Ultrasonic Nozzles are advantageous as they reduce high temperature processing significantly. It is commonly accepted that as manufacturing techniques evolve production costs will be dominated by constituent material requirements. But the defects inherent in the lower quality processing methods, have much reduced efficiencies compared to First Generation. The most successful second generation materials have been cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, amorphous silicon and micromorphous silicon. These materials are applied in a thin film to a supporting substrate such as glass or ceramics reducing material mass and therefore costs.

• thin film cell technology (Thin-Film Photovoltaic Cell)

In the begginig of the  1990s  there  has  been  increased  development  of  thin-film  processes  for manufacturing  solar  cells.  In  these, photoactive  semiconductors  are  applied  as  thin layers  to  a  low-cost  substrate  (in  most  cases,  glass). The  methods  used  include  vapour deposition,  sputter  processes  (cathode  sputtering)  and  electrolytic  baths with a lot of layers. The thickness range of such a layer is wide and varies from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers. Many different photovoltaic materials are deposited with various deposition methods on a variety of substrates. Thin Film Solar Cells are usually categorized according to the photovoltaic material used. Thin-film  cells  are  not  restricted  in  their  format  to  standard  wafer  sizes, as  is  the case  with  crystalline  cells. Theoretically,  the  substrate  can  be  cut  to  any  size  and  coated with  semiconductor  material. However, because  only  cells  of the  same  size  can  be connected  in  series  for  internal  wiring,  for  practical  purposes  only  rectangular  formats are  common. Despite  the  relatively  low  efficiency,  the  energy  yield  can,  under  certain  conditions, be  quite  considerable. The  utilization  of  diffuse  and  low  light  is  better  with  thin-film cells  and  there  is  a  more  favourable  temperature  coefficient  (i.e.  the  decrease  in performance  at  higher  operating  temperatures  is  less  than  with  other  technologies). Thin-film  cells  are  less sensitive  to  shading!!!