Nanostructured silicon single junction thin film solar cells were deposited on commercial red clay roof tiles with engobe surfaces and earthenware wall tiles with glazed surfaces, with a test area of 24 mm². We studied the influence of the type of substrate tile, back contact, buffer layer and SiO_x passivation layer on the optoelectronic performance of the solar cells. Despite the fact that typical micrometre-sized defects on the surfaces of the tiles and the porous nature of the ceramic substrates make deposition of homogeneous thin films on them quite challenging, we have been able to achieve a cell efficiency of 5% and a quantum efficiency of 80% on non-fully optimized cells on commercial tiles. The method is industrially employable utilizing pre-existing plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technologies. The cost-effectiveness and industrial feasibility of the technique are discussed. Our study shows that photovoltaic tiles can combine energy generation with architectural aesthetics leading to significant implications for advancement in building integrated photovoltaics.

Amorphous rods of 4 mm diameter of Zr_65.0Al_7.5Ni_10.0Cu_17.5 crystallize in a very fine microstructure, with an average size of the crystallites of 19 nm, on an isochronal heating over 655–860 K for a short period of 300 s. The multiple primary crystallization occurs with subsequent precipitation transformation of Zr‐rich supersaturated tetragonal Ni₁₁Zr₉‐ type (T phase) and cubic NiZr₂‐ type (I phase) phases to a thermally stable three phase mixture of α‐Zr (hexagonal), T and I phase finely dispersed one into another. It results in an enhanced microhardness of 6.9 GPa in the crystallized sample in comparison to 4.6 GPa in the amorphous sample, 5.7 GPa in the well‐crystallized bulk ingots, or 1.75 GPa or lower in the pure Zr or other elemental starting components. The results are discussed with the refined microstructure and the formalism of the local precipitations of α‐Zr nanocrystallites in the locally phase separated microscopic domains of related supersaturated intermediate phases.