Since I’ve got into a brief overview of solar cells (see below), I cannot let it go without at least mentioning perovskite solar cells. Along with organic solar cells they represent emerging thin-film solar cell technology.
Perovskites are crystalline materials chemical composition of which may vary significantly, but which feature the same crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide CaTiO3 (perovskite structure). They have very good solar light absorption characteristics (it means they use large portion of the solar light spectrum) and matured into cells featuring above 20% efficiency. Overall. perovskite solar cells have a very good potential for low-cost large-scale commercialization.
In the case you are not all that familiar with perovskites check this site out.