461 articles
Savion
Savion, LLC is an American utility-scale solar and energy storage developer headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 2019 from Tradewind Energy's solar unit, it has been wholly owned by Shell since 2021.
Scan-rate-dependent hysteresis in perovskite solar cells
Scan-rate-dependent hysteresis in perovskite solar cells is the dependence of the measured current density–voltage curve on voltage sweep speed, widely attributed to slow ion migration in the absorber.
Screen-printed silicon solar cell
A screen-printed silicon solar cell is a crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell whose silver and aluminum contacts are applied by printing metal paste through a screen mesh and firing it.
Selective emitter solar cell
A selective emitter solar cell is a crystalline silicon solar cell whose front emitter is doped non-uniformly: heavily under the metal contacts and lightly between them, improving efficiency.
Self-assembled monolayer hole transport layers (MeO-2PACz)
MeO-2PACz is a self-assembled monolayer molecule used as a dopant-free hole transport layer in inverted perovskite solar cells, first reported in 2019 and now sold commercially.
Self-assembled monolayer hole-selective layer
A self-assembled monolayer hole-selective layer is a single-molecule-thick organic film, chemically anchored to a transparent electrode, that extracts holes in perovskite solar cells and has been standard since 2018.
Self-consumption
Self-consumption is the direct use of electricity generated on a consumer's own premises, usually rooftop solar, and it raises profitability because retail prices exceed prices paid for exports.
Self-healing perovskite solar cell
A self-healing perovskite solar cell is a perovskite solar cell designed to recover from damage by light, heat, moisture, UV radiation, or mechanical stress, addressing perovskites' instability.
Semi-transparent perovskite solar cell
A semi-transparent perovskite solar cell (ST-PSC) generates electricity from a metal halide perovskite absorber while transmitting visible light, serving solar windows, building-integrated photovoltaics, and tandem solar cells.
Shoals Technologies Group
Shoals Technologies Group is an American design-engineering company that makes the wiring, connectors, and power-distribution components carrying electricity from solar panels and batteries, founded in 1996 in Portland, Tennessee.
Shockley–Queisser limit
The Shockley–Queisser limit is the maximum theoretical efficiency of a single-junction solar cell, 33.16% under one-sun illumination, calculated by William Shockley and Hans-Joachim Queisser in 1961.
Siemens process
The Siemens process is a chemical vapor deposition method for producing hyperpure polysilicon, developed by Siemens in the mid-1950s and still holding about 85 percent of the polysilicon market in 2025.
Silicon dendritic web and ribbon growth
Silicon dendritic web and ribbon growth are crystal growth methods that pull a thin self-supporting silicon sheet directly from the melt, chiefly to make solar cell wafers without sawing.
Silicon heterojunction solar cell
A silicon heterojunction (SHJ), or HJT, solar cell is a crystalline-silicon cell whose junctions are thin amorphous-silicon films; Kaneka's 26.7% IBC cell set a record certified in 2017.
Silver paste
Silver paste is a screen-printable ink of silver particles, glass frit, and binders that forms the electrical contacts of crystalline silicon solar cells, the dominant metallization method in photovoltaic manufacturing.
Singlet fission
Singlet fission is a photophysical process where one excited singlet molecule splits into two triplet states, potentially lifting solar cell efficiency past the Shockley–Queisser limit to about 45%.
Singlet fission sensitization of silicon solar cells
Singlet fission sensitization of silicon solar cells places an organic layer that splits one photon's energy into two excitons on silicon, potentially raising its efficiency limit from 29.4% to 34.6%.
Singlet fission solar cells
Singlet fission solar cells are photovoltaic devices that use singlet fission to convert one photon into two charge carriers, pursued mainly as an add-on to silicon cells.
Sky imager
A sky imager, also called an all-sky imager, is a ground-based upward-facing fisheye camera that detects clouds to forecast solar irradiance over horizons of roughly 10 to 20 minutes.
SMA Solar Technology
SMA Solar Technology is a German company founded in 1981 and headquartered in Niestetal near Kassel that develops and sells photovoltaic inverters and energy-management systems worldwide.
Snail trail
A snail trail, also called a snail track, is a dark worm-like discoloration of the silver grid fingers on silicon solar cells, usually along invisible microcracks.
SNEC (trade show)
SNEC, formally the International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition, is an annual solar trade fair in Shanghai, China, first held in 2007.
Sol do Cerrado
Sol do Cerrado is a large photovoltaic solar complex operated by Brazilian mining company Vale in Jaíba, Minas Gerais, with 17 plants totaling 766 MWp.
Solaire Direct
Solairedirect was a French solar power developer founded in 2006, known for utility-scale photovoltaic projects built to compete without subsidies; ENGIE acquired it in 2015 for about €321 million.
Solar air heater
A solar air heater is a solar thermal collector that transfers absorbed solar heat directly to air, used for space heating, ventilation preheating, crop drying, and process heat.
Solar atlas
A solar atlas is a collection of maps, datasets, and tools describing a region's solar energy resource, typically giving long-term average solar irradiance and expected photovoltaic output.
Solar boat
A solar boat is a watercraft whose electric motor and onboard services run on electricity from photovoltaic panels charging batteries; the first was built in 1881, and MS Tûranor PlanetSolar completed a solar circumnavigation in 2012.
Solar carport
A solar carport is a canopy structure built over parking spaces with photovoltaic modules mounted on its roof, generating electricity while sheltering vehicles and often hosting EV chargers.
Solar cell
A solar cell, also called a photovoltaic (PV) cell, is a semiconductor device that converts sunlight directly into electricity. The first practical cell was demonstrated at Bell Labs in 1954.
Solar combisystem
A solar combisystem is a solar heating installation providing both domestic hot water and space heating, with an auxiliary source such as gas or biomass.