Solar Energy Conversion Technology

Solar Photovoltaic

Dr. Pankaj Kalita

Associate Professor, SESE
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

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Solar Photovoltaic: Basics of PV cells, its constructions,
manufacturing process and working principle of PV conversion

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 Solar Photovoltaic Conversion
• The devices used for PV conversion are called
Solar cells.
• When solar radiation falls on these devices, it
is converted directly into DC electricity.
• Major advantages Limitations PV Conversion
No moving parts
Requires little maintenance o Efficiency of solar cell is low
o Solar energy is intermittent
Work quite satisfactorily with beam or diffuse
radiation o Cost
Adopted for varying power requirements
90% of the current commercial production of solar cells are
single crystal and multi-crystalline silicon cells
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Application of PV Technology
• Space satellites.
• Remote radio communication booster stations.
• Marine warning lights.
• Lighting purposes.
• Powering household appliances.
• Powering torches, flashlights, wrist watches.
• Water pumping (in irrigation), streetlight .
• Solar PV power plant.
• Solar powered vehicle, Battery charging etc.
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 Early PV milestones
• 1839: Discovery of the photovoltaic
effect - Edmond Becquerel
• 1873: Smith discovers the
photoconductivity of selenium
• 1883: Fritts develops first selenium
cell (1% efficient)
Patented 1st modern solar cell
• 1904: Einstein published his paper called a “Light sensitive
on the photoelectric effect (along device” - Bell Laboratory
with a paper on his theory of
relativity) Vanguard I - first PV powered satellite
• 1921: Albert Einstein wins the Nobel • Launched – 1958 (4th Artificial Satellite)
Prize for his theories (1904 paper) • Still orbiting
explaining the photoelectric effect • Solar Panel: 0.1 W, 100 sq.cm
• Cost: USD1000 per watt 5
 Solar Photovoltaic Cell, Module and PV Array

0.5 V and 20-40 mA/cm2

Array
Module
100 cm2 produces a current of 2 A

1-2 kWh/m2 per day

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 Cell Size and its classification
 Thickness of bulk silicon
(a)100 mm (4 inch) diameter, round single crystalline wafer = 200 to 400  m
(b)100 cm2 square single crystalline
(c)100 mm x 100 mm (4 inch x 4 inch) square multi crystalline
(d)125 mm x 125 mm (5 inch x 5 inch)square multi crystalline

Classification on the basis of:

(a) Thickness of the active material (bulk material cell, thin-film cell)
(b)Type of junction structure (pn homojunction cell, pn heterojunction cell, pn multifunction
cell, metal-semiconductor (Schottky) junction and p-i-n (p type-intrinsic –n type)
semiconductor junction)
(c) The type of the active material used in its fabrication (Single crystal silicon solar cell
Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cell, Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) Solar Cell, Gallium Arsenide Cell,
Copper Indium (Gallium) Diselanide (CIS) cell, Cadmium Telluride Cell, Organic PV Cell )

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 PV cells material and its conversion efficiency
• Single crystal silicon solar cell
• Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cell
• Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) Solar Cell
• Gallium Arsenide Cell
• Copper Indium (Gallium) Diselanide (CIS) cell
• Cadmium Telluride Cell
• Organic PV Cell

 Combinations of different band-gap materials in the

tandem (higher efficiencies).

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 Crystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous structure

• Atoms, molecules, or ions of crystalline

solid are arranged in a highly ordered
microscopic structure, forming a crystal
lattice that extends in all directions- give
unique properties, particularly mechanical,
optical and electrical.
• The opposite of a single crystal is an
amorphous structure where the atomic
position is limited to short range order
only.
• In between the two extremes
exist polycrystalline, which is made up of a
number of smaller crystals known
as crystallites, and paracrystalline phases.
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 Construction of a PV cell (single crystal si solar cell)

Screen printing of a paste

containing 70% silver, organic
binder and sintered glass Anti reflection coating of
silicon nitride or titanium
Metal electrode finger dioxide of thickness 0.1
micron – applied at the
Diffusion of n-type impurity top surface

Single crystal Si solar cell –

wafers, sliced from single
crystal p-type doped silicon Cells are encapsulated in
a thin transparent
Metal electrode finger material
For back contact a paste containing
aluminum is screen printed.

Placed in a furnace at 600-700 oC 10

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Production process of monocrystalline silicon solar cell
• 70% :Automotive engine block
Coal, coke, wood chips • 28-29%: variety of chemical products
• 1%: SeG-Si

HCL is Trichlorosilane gas

SiO2 MG-Si added
Separation &
Quartzite/ 1900 oC 98-99% Chemical reactor Purification
silica purity
seG-Si
(Multicrystalline)
 Doping
 Electrical connections Melting &
 Anti-reflection coating solidification

Single crystal Si
Cell block

Si wafers

Cost increases 100 fold 12

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 Principle of working of a solar cell
CB
• Creation of pairs of positive and negative Electron
charges in the solar cell by absorbed solar hole-pair
radiation (cell must be made of a material SR
VB
which can absorb energy associated with junction
the photos of sunlight ) n type P type

• Separation of the positive and negative Load

charges by a potential gradient within the
Material: semiconductors like silicon,
cell cadmium telluride, gallium arsenide
hc Joules • VB has electrons at a lower energy level
Energy of a photon: E  and is fully occupied

h  Planck's constant  6.62 1027 erg-s • CB has electron at a higher energy level
and is not fully occupied.
c  velocity of light  3 108 m/s
h = 6.63 x 10-34 Joules-second • Difference between the min energy of
1 eV = 1.6 x 10-19Joule 1.24 eV electrons in the CB and max energy of the
E
 14
electron in VB is called band gap energy
 Principle of working of a solar cell
• Silicon p-type is doped with some trivalent atoms like those of
boron, while silicon of n-type is doped with some pentavalent atoms
like those of phosphorous.
• N-type of silicon has excess electrons, while p-type has excess holes.
• When these materials are joined together, excess electrons from the
n-type diffuse to recombine with the holes in the p-type
• Similarly excess holes from p-type diffuse to the n-type as a result n-
type material becomes positively charged, while p-type is negatively
charges – creates built-in potential at the junction

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Material Band gap
• For insulators the energy band gap h  E g  is
very large, thus the electrons in the valence band
cannot reach the conduction band, which results
in no conduction of current.
• For a semiconductor h  E g , the valence
electron can cross this gap on acquiring thermal GaAs
or light energy
• For Conductor E g  0 no forbidden gap exists,
silicon
and hence electron can easily move to the
conduction band. Germanium

Material Eg(0) eV a (eV/K) x 10-4 b (K)

Variation of the band aT 2
gap with temperature: E g T   E g 0  Si 1.166 7.0 636
T b
GaAs 1.519 5.8 204
At T = 0, E T   E 0 materials behave as an
g g
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insulator Ge 0.7437 4.77 235
 Q1: Band gap energy in a silicon crystal at 50ₒC? (1.1 eV)

7 10 4  50  273

2
aT 2
E g T   E g 0    1.166   1.1eV
T b 50  273  636

Q2: The optimum wavelength of light for photovoltaic generation

in a Si cell. (1.12  m )
1.24 1.24
E    1.12 m
 1.11
Q3: Calculate the optimum wavelength of light for photovoltaic
generation in a CdS cell. (Band gap for CdS is 2.42 eV)
1.24 1.24
E    0.512m
 2.42
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 Direct and Indirect band gap
 k-vector that describes the crystal momentum of the semiconductor.

 If the maximum of the

valence band and the
minimum of the conduction
band occur at the same k-
vector, an electron can be
excited from the valence to
the conduction band
without a change in the
crystal momentum –
DBGM
 If the electron cannot be
excited without changing For Si
For GaAs
the crystal momentum -
IBGM  Photons have to travel more distance before getting
 Absorbs photons much more readily absorbed
 Must be sufficiently thick to absorb the incident light
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Loss mechanism
• The two most important loss mechanisms in single bandgap
solar cells are the inability to convert photons with energies
below the bandgap to electricity and thermalisation of photon
energies exceeding the bandgap.
• These two mechanisms alone amount to the loss of about half
the incident solar energy in the conversion process.
• Thus the maximal energy conversion efficiency of a single
junction solar cell is considerably below the thermodynamic
limit. This single bandgap limit was first calculated by Shockley
and Queisser in 1961.

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Thank you

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