Sustainability perspectives - a review for solar photovoltaic trends and growth opportunities

Solar photovoltaic technology has emerged with exceptionally high potential future energy contributor to a scale of multi-terawatt sustainability sector by mid-century 2050. Assuming the inception year 2018 and recent developments in the field of photovoltaics, significant penetration of various techno-commercial factors are still left for futuristic innovations. Extending the portfolio of PV based cleaner energy production, requires innovation process, detailed concept analysis, pilot study, and demonstration. The development strategies would overcome the barriers to development and advance the implementation process. The energy innovation system is never an easy process due to the complexity of technological success, public acceptance and environmental sensitivity, which affects the product supply chain. This review has prioritized sustainability as a significant tool to look into various state-of-art developments in PV innovation process and arrived with the recommendation for its market size, effective and efficient future growth opportunities, ongoing trends, and forecast for the years 2018-2025. Apart from core technology improvements, this multi-perspective review recommends for innovative policies adoption, substantial fall in energy cost, social acceptance, capacity building and collaborations for future energy establishment. Sustainability perspective as a significant thought suggests a brief snapshot of fifteen innovative solar energy-based solutions for sustainable development. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.