Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer (HIT) solar cells are currently an important subject in industrial trends for thinner solar cell wafers due to the low-temperature of production processes, which is around $200^{\circ}C$, and due to their high-efficiency of 24.7%, as reported by the Panasonic (Sanyo) group. The use of thinner wafers and the enhancement of cell performance with fabrication at low temperature have been special interests of the researchers. The fundamental understanding of the band bending structures, choice of materials, fabrication process, and nano-scale characterization methods to provide necessary understanding of the interface passivation mechanisms, emitter properties, and requirements for transparent oxide conductive layers is presented in this review. This information should be used for the performance characterization of the developing technologies for HIT solar cells.

$Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ thin film have been fabricated by rapid thermal annealing of dc-sputtered metal precursor with Cu/ZnSn/Cu stack in sulfur ambient. A CZTS film with a good uniformity was formed at $560^{\circ}C$ in 6 min. $Cu_2SnS_3$ and $Cu_3SnS_4$ secondary phases were present at $540^{\circ}C$ and a trace amount of $Cu_2SnS_3$ secondary phase was present at $560^{\circ}C$. Single-phase large-grained CZTS film with rough surface was formed at $560^{\circ}C$. Solar cell with best efficiency of 4.7% ($V_{oc}=632mV$, $j_{sc}=15.8mA/cm^2$, FF = 47.13%) for an area of $0.44cm^2$ was obtained for the CZTS absorber grown at $560^{\circ}C$ for 6 min. The existence of second phase at lower-temperature annealing and rough surface at higher-temperature annealing caused the degradation of cell performance. Also poor back contact by void formation deteriorated cell performance. The fill factor was below 0.5; it should be increased by minimizing voids at the CZTS/Mo interface. Our results suggest that CZTS absorbers can be grown by rapid thermal annealing of metallic precursors in sulfur ambient for short process times ranging in minutes.

We report here flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on Ti-mesh electrodes that show good mechanical flexibility and electrical conductivity. $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays prepared by electrochemical anodizing Ti-mesh substrate were used as photoanode. A Pt-coated Ti-mesh substrate was used as counter electrode. The photoanodes were modified by coating a $TiO_2$ porous layer onto the $TiO_2$ nanotubes in order to increase the specific surface area. To increase the long term stability of the DSSCs, a gel type electrolyte was used instead of a conventional liquid type electrolyte. The DSSC based on $33.2{\mu}m$ long porous $TiO_2$ nanotubes exhibited a better energy conversion efficiency of ~2.33%, which was higher than that of the DSSCs based on non-porous $TiO_2$ nanotubes.

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering at room temperature and the effect of heat treatment on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the films were examined. As the annealing temperature and time increased, the resistivity decreased and the transmittance improved. All AZO films had c-axis oriented (002) plane of ZnO, regardless of the annealing process employed. As the annealing temperature and time increased, the crystallinity of AZO thin films increased due to the formation of a new ZnO phase in which Al was substituted for Zn. However, at the high annealing temperature of $400^{\circ}C$, the resistivity of the films increased via separation of Zn and Al from ZnO phase due to their low melting points. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron micrograph and Hall effect measurement confirmed the formation of uniformly distributed new grains of ZnO substituted with Al. The variation of Al contents in AZO films was shown to be the primary factor for the changes in resistivity and carrier concentration of the films.

Epitaxial growth of a high-quality thin Si film is essential for the application to low-cost thin-film Si solar cells. A polycrystalline Si film was grown on a $SiO_2$ substrate at $450^{\circ}C$ by a Al-assisted crystal growth process. For the purpose, a thin Al layer was deposited on the $SiO_2$ substrate for Al-assisted crystal growth. However, the epitaxial growth of Si film resulted in a rough surface with humps. Then, we introduced a thin amorphous Si seed layer on the Al film to minimize the initial roughness of Si film. With the help of the Si seed layer, the surface of the epitaxial Si film was smooth and the crystallinity of the Si film was much improved. The grain size of the $1.5-{\mu}m$-thick Si film was as large as 1 mm. The Al content in the Si film was 3.7% and the hole concentration was estimated to be $3{\times}10^{17}/cm^3$, which was one order of magnitude higher than desirable value for Si base layer. The results suggest that Al-doped Si layer could be use as a seed layer for additional epitaxial growth of intrinsic or boron-doped Si layer because the Al-doped Si layer has large grains.

$Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) nanoparticles were synthesized by a solvothermal method using copper (II) acetate, zinc acetate, tin chloride, and sulfur in diethylenetriamine solvent. Binary sulfide particles such as CuS, ZnS, SnS, and $SnS_2$ were obtained at $180^{\circ}C$; single-phase CZTS nanoparticles were obtained at $280^{\circ}C$. CZTS nanoparticles with spherical shape and grain size of 40 to 60 nm were obtained at $280^{\circ}C$. In the middle of 180 and $280^{\circ}C$, CZTS and ZnS phases were found. The time variation of reaction at $280^{\circ}C$ revealed that an amorphous state formed first instead of binary phases and then the amorphous phase was converted to crystalline CZTS state; it is different reaction path way from conventional solid-state reaction path of which binary phases react to form CZTS. CZTS films deposited and annealed from single-phase nanoparticles showed porous microstructure and poor adhesion. This indicates that a combination of CZTS and other flux phase is necessary to have a dense film for device fabrication.

ZnO film has been used for CIGS solar cells as a buffer layer as itself or by doping Mg and Sn; ZnO film also has been used as a transparent conducting layer by doping Al or B for solar cells. Since ZnO itself is a host material for many applications it is necessary to understand the electrical and optical properties of ZnO film itself with various preparation conditions. We prepared ZnO films by converting ZnS precursor into ZnO film by thermal annealing. ZnO film was formed at low temperature as low as $500^{\circ}C$ by annealing a ZnS precursor layer in air. In the air annealing, the electrical resistivity decreased monotonically with increasing annealing temperature; the intensity of the green photoluminescence at 505 nm increased up to $750^{\circ}C$ annealing. The electrical resistivity further decreased and the intensity of green emission also increased in reducing atmospheres. The results suggest that deep-level defects originated by oxygen vacancy enhanced green emission, which reduce light transmittance and enhance the recombination of electrons in conduction band and holes in valence. More oxidizing environment is necessary to obtain defect-free ZnO film for higher transparency.

The Floating Photovoltaic System was installed on the surface of water. There were some researches in this subject. But there was not many studies with experiment on a high waterproof Floating Photovoltaic modules. The aim of this study was to analyze the performance of the Floating Photovoltaic System. For this experiment, a high waterproof Floating Photovoltaic modules were designed and applied to the module capacity of 10 kW Tracking-Type structure. The experiment results indicated the performance of the daily production is 51.6 kW; the production capacity of Floating Photovoltaic System is expected to be 23% higher than that of the ground-mounted photovoltaic system.

New national certified license tests for the facility management of new and renewable energy is given from this year. There are three national certified licenses including craftsman, industrial engineer and engineer. The subjects for the craftsman are photovoltaic facility for written exam and practical business of photovoltaic facility for writing exam. The subjects for the industrial engineer are theory, construction, management and law of the photovoltaic system for written exam and practical business of photovoltaic system for writing exam. The subjects for the engineer add one more subject compared with the industrial engineer, such as design of photovoltaic system. The first tests were given in september 28 in this year. The tests will be given three in 2014.