Photovoltaic materials, also known as solar cell materials, are materials that can convert solar energy directly into electrical energy. Photovoltaic materials can generate electric current because of the photovoltaic effect, that is, if light shines on the solar cell and light is absorbed at the interface layer, photons with sufficient energy can excite electrons from covalent bonds in P-type silicon and N-type silicon, resulting in electron-hole pairs.

Photovoltaic materials that can be used as solar cell materials include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, GaAs, GaAlAs, InP, CdS, CdTe and so on. Monocrystalline silicon, GaAs and InP are used in space, and monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon are used in ground production. Others are still in the development stage. The current commitment is to reduce material costs and improve conversion efficiency so that the price of electricity from solar cells can compete with the price of electricity from thermal power generation, thus creating conditions for wider and larger scale applications.