Thin-film polycrystalline silicon has the potential to achieve the cos
t reduction and performance improvement necessary for large-scale elec
tricity markets. Reduced cost is achieved by capitalizing on the benef
its of thin films grown on low-cost, large-area substrates. Improved e
fficiency, is realized, in spite of reduced material quality, by incor
porating enhanced optical absorption and back-surface passivation. The
cornerstone of Astro Power's thin-film solar cell technology, is the
Silicon-Film(TM) process: a method for the manufacture of solar cell-q
uality, polycrystalline films of silicon on a variety of low-cost, sup
porting substrates. Three thin-film solar cell designs, based on this
technology, are currently under development. This paper presents the h
ey design features of these three products and briefly reviews the cur
rent status of the development of the key, technologies that comprise
the advanced thin-film solar cell products.