Solar cells represent a more important renewable energy technology, development of which continues to improve its efficiency and, more crucially, cost-effectiveness. First-generation solar cells are silicon wafer cells, the second generation includes thin-film cells, while the third-generation solar cells represent emerging photovoltaic technologies. Noble metal nanoparticles, mostly gold, silver, copper, platinum, and palladium, have been identified as prospective in enhancing performance for various solar cell types within the generations. Currently, first-generation silicon solar cells are dominating the market but at a very high material cost. Noble metal nanoparticles integrated into silicon can increase the ability of light trapping in silicon and overall improve the absorption of incident photons for further efficiency. Simulation results have, in fact, indicated extreme increases in light absorption over that of bare silicon thin films after the incorporation of completely buried silver nanoparticles under the silicon surface. These theoretical suggestions were made on the basis that gold nanoparticles on silicon excite the localized surface plasmon which scatter the light, increasing the optical path length in the absorber layer. This was realized through the addition of gold and silver nanoparticles into the photoactive layers of these cells, thereby acting upon improving the light harvesting. The localized surface plasmons excited by gold nanoparticles in dye-sensitized solar cells increase the optical path length and transport electrons, boosting the short-circuit current and efficiency. Ag NPs embedded in the perovskite layer may increase light scattering and absorption, hence improving photocurrent. While the use of noble metal nanoparticles has great promise for performance enhancement in solar cells, optimization of the size of the nanoparticles, their shape and composition, and their placement within the cell structure remains an open challenge. Further studies are required to be fully comprehended in understanding the effects of plasmonic and optimize nanoparticle-semiconductor interactions. With further development, it is probable that these noble metal nanoparticles will certainly form one of the mainstays in the advance of solar cell technologies toward higher efficiencies and reduced costs, allowing accelerated integration of renewable energy.