We review the use of laser-driven physical vapor deposition from solid targets for the growth of CdTe-related photovoltaic materials on glass substrates. The physical conditions in the laser-driven plume from 15 nsec pulses at λ = 308 nm from an XeCI laser have been studied by optical multichannel spectroscopy and time-of-flight methods. Film growth has been optimized in terms of substrate temperature, laser pulse energy density, and overall growth rate through the use of optical absorption, Raman scattering, x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and electrical measurements on the films. Early results of device fabrication have yielded an all-LDPVD CdS/CdTe cell of 8.7% AM 1.5 efficiency.