In last five years, a remarkable development has been observed in the photovoltaic (PV) cell technology. To overcome the consequences on global warming due to fossil fuel-based power generation, PV cell technology came out as an emerging and sustainable source of energy. A renewed assessment regarding the performance of this emerging technology is essentially required for the recent developments and to analyze their potential in forthcomi. In last five years, a remarkable development has been observed in the photovoltaic (PV) cell technology. To overcome the consequences on global warming due to fossil fuel-based power generation, PV cell technology came out as an emerging and sustainable source of energy. A renewed assessment regarding the performance of this emerging technology is essentially required for the recent developments and to analyze their potential in forthcoming applications. The developments of various PV cells can be classified in to four primary groups, known as generations. However, the first two generations are mainly responsible till date for the commercialization of solar PV cells in the entire market. The efforts have been made in this approach to appraise the progress of each technology in the near future by presenting a comprehensive comparative study of PV cell parameters for all generation technologies. Additionally, the fourth-generation technology has been especially focused in this work in which the distinct roles of organic and nano-components is presented.••PhotovoltaicsSolar PV cell generationsPolymersNano photovoltaicsThe living standard of a society may be linked through its electricity consumption and hence, the electricity is most essential resource for human civilizations development. There are miscellaneous resources to obtain electricity, through various generation methods such as combustion of fossil-fuels, extended to nuclear reactor systems. Out of several sources of energy, sunlight is the clean, safe and most abundant available source for sustainably powering the economic growth. Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel was a French physicist who discovered this in 1839 that photovoltaic (PV) effect is applied to extract photovoltaic energy or electrical energy directly form the sunlight. This effect can be observed in semiconductor materials, which are characterized between a conductor and an insulator by their intermediate electrical conductivity. The electrons of semiconductor material capture the photons which reaches to the material through incident radiation and as a result electron moves into the higher energy state. These electrons can start circulating within the material after breaking their nucleus if their energy state exceeds the band gap of the material i.e. the threshold value. In result, a potential difference is created between the terminals and an electric current will start flowing in the circuit.The most efficient way to harness solar energy as an emerging source of ener. 2.1. I generation solar PV cellsThe solar PV cells based on crystalline-silicon, both monocrystalline (m-crystalline) and polycrystalline (p-crystalline) come under the first generation solar PV cells. The name given to crystalline silicon based solar PV cells has been derived from the way that is used to manufacture them. Thin wafers which were taken from an especially grown continuous crystal are used to form m-crystalline silicon solar PV cells. Silicon material is first melted and then poured into a mould to form p-crystalline silicon solar PV cells. The PCE of Si-based solar PV cells has been raised up to 24% since the discovery of these cells in Bell Laboratories. The theoretically predicted value for the maximum PCE of uni-junction c-Si-based solar PV cells is 30% (Shockley and Queisser, 1961). The exhaustive research study in this way has been carried out in India with p-crystalline and microcrystalline (µ-crystalline) silicon,. In present scenario, approximately 86% of the solar PV market is covered by these silicon solar PV cells as their PCE, is relatively very high. However, in commercial modules, the maximum efficiency of power conversion is recorded as 15–20% only. The capital cost of first generation solar PV cells is very high due to their inherently expensive manufacturing process and this is the reason that it could took a couple of years to reimburse their cost of installation.A sunlight absorbing material is found in the structure of every solar PV cell which is required for all type of solar PV cells to convert photon of incident light into electricity. The free electrons are generated by the material with in the solar PV cell after absorbing the photons from the sunlight, this effect is termed as photoelectric effect.
