Towards creation of mobility society using solar energy

This paper presents current status and future direction of Photovoltaic (PV) electric power system installations in the world. This article also overviews PV R&D activities in Japan as the PV R&D Project Leader of NEDO and JST. Present status of various solar cells efficiencies under NEDO and JST PV R&D projects are presented: 44.4% for concentrator III-V compound 3-junction solar cell, 37.9% for 1-sun III-V compound 3-junctiion cell, 26.7% for single-crystal Si cell, 22.3% for CIGS cell, and 14.0% for a-Si based 3-junction cell. Efficiency potential of various solar cells is also discussed. Prospects of PV and our recent approaches towards the creation of “Mobility Society by using Solar Energy” are discussed.