Why use silicon to make photovoltaic cells?

Silicon is the material backbone of the current solar industry. Silicon is vital to solar PV cells because it is the semiconductor material that enables the photoelectric effect to occur within the cell. There are reasons why solar scientists and researchers would want and are developing alternate materials for use in solar cells. Those reasons revolve around the high cost of mining, refining and producing solar-grade silicon - a reason exacerbated by the fact that the solar industry must compete with the electronics industry for silicon.

Yet while silicon, more specifically crystalline silicon, is expensive and relatively bulky, it is also the most efficient solar cell material on the market today. Crystalline silicon's closest rivals, including cadmium telluride and thin-film amorphous silicon cells, average 8-12 percent conversion efficiency, while c-Si cells top 20 percent.

New thin-film advancements are being made that could one day render crystalline silicon obsolete, but until then, a relatively high conversion efficiency is the main reason we should use silicon to make photovoltaic cells. It also helps that silicon, while expensive to refine, is an abundant element. That fact will reduce material costs as mining and production capacity for silicon solar cell producers increases.