The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has continued its rapid growth in 2011 despite economic difficulties and the phase-out (or elimination, in some cases) of government subsidy. The sale of PV energy exceeded 37 GW in 2011. Although, there is expected to be a slight decrease in the PV sales in 2012, the production may not see a much change, creating a glut in the supply of PV modules. This excess production, combined with increased module efficiencies has created a precipitous drop in the sales prices. The largest drop in the sales prices have occurred in the silicon modules, enabling silicon-wafer-based technologies to regain the market dominance following the end of a temporary shortage of poly.

At the same time, other technologies based on a-Si, thin film-Si, CdTe, and CIGS are poised for larger share of the PV market. Further price reductions are anticipated in the near future. However, there are many challenges both in R&D and in commercialization. The PV R&D community is working on new materials, device designs, and process tools, while there is a rapid growth in commercial equipment for improved processing and higher throughput. One of the major areas expected to receive much attention is characterization and measurements. In particular, PV industry is keen to implement online monitoring.

This special issue of International Journal of Photoenergy will compile papers on all research aspects of measurements and characterization of photovoltaic materials and devices. We invite researchers, academicians, and industry technologists to contribute original research articles as well as reviews related to various PV technologies—Si, CdTe, CIGS, organic solar cells, and third-generation solar cells. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• All research aspects related to current materials and solar cells
• Approaches for commercial production, focusing on precursor and feedstock materials, module design and processing, advances in device fabrication, and innovations for device fabrication
• New materials for PV applications, such as organics, quantum dots, and thin-film Si
• Advanced module design and fabrication technologies
• Advanced measurement/characterization methods, and instrumentation for in situ measurements, defect monitoring, and process control; performance, reliability testing, and standards

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijp/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ijp/pvmd13/ according to the following timetable: