❑ Solar cells also known as PV,convert

sunlight directly into electricity.

❑ PV gets its name from the process of
converting light (photons) to electricity.
❑ Soon solar cells were being used to
power space satellites and smaller items
like calculators and watches.
❑Some materials exhibit a property known as
the photoelectric effect that causes them to
absorb photons of light and release electrons.
❑When these free electrons are captured, an
electric current results that can be used as
electricity.
❑The photoelectric effect was first noted by a
French physicist, Edmund Bequerel, in 1839.
 PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFECT
▪ The photoelectric emission of electrons: If a light of certain frequency (wavelength) is
allowed to fall on a metal (emitter) plate, some electrons will receive enough energy to be
released from the plate. The positive bias supplied by the battery in the circuit causes these
free electrons to be attracted to the collector and a current is caused to flow.
▪ Using a monochromatic light it can be shown that the photocurrent increases with the
intensity of light. The minimum frequency of light that will cause electrons to be released is
called threshold frequency (fc) of the material. When light of a frequency less than the
threshold frequency is applied to the material, regardless of its intensity, no electrons are
released.
▪ Solar panels can work with any kind of light. Most of the panels are manufactured using
silicon. Silicon has a band-gap of 1.1 eV. This means to generate electron-hole pair, it
will be needing light of wavelength 400-1100 nm. Most of the visible spectrum lies in this
range.
4
 SEMI CONDUCTOR
❑ Materials, both compounds and elements, can be classified
according to how well they conduct electricity. There are materials
such as metals which conduct electricity well and those which conduct
electricity poorly, called insulators. There are a few materials which
fall in between. They conduct electricity a little bit. These materials
are called semiconductors.

❑ By applying voltages semiconductors can function as switches

forming the basis of transistors and by applying light radiation,
semiconductors can function as photovoltaic devices.

5
 DOPING
Controlled quantities of specific impurity ions are added to the
very pure (intrinsic) material to produce doped (extrinsic)
semiconductors.

6
 P-NJUNCTION
A p-n junction is formed by
joining the dissimilar
semiconductors.

This sets up an electric field in

the region of the junction.

When p-n junction is formed a,

some of the electrons in the near
vacinity of the junction are
attracted from the n-side to
combine with the holes on the
nearby p-side and vice versa.
7
 SOLAR PV CELLS
These cells essentially consist of a
junction between two thin layers of
dissimilar semi conductor material, known
as ‘p-type’ and ‘n-type’ semiconductors.

In practice the junction is manufactured

from a single piece of host crystal by
varying the doping in different parts of it as
the crystal is grown.

This produces a transition region between

the p-part and n-part that is typically about
1 μm in width.
8
❑A solar panel works by allowing photons, or
particles of light, to knock electrons free from
atoms.
❑ Many photovoltaic cells linked together make
up a solar panel.
❑Each photovoltaic cell is basically a sandwich
made up of two slices of semi-conducting
material, usually silicon.
❑To work, photovoltaic cells need to establish an
electric field.
❑Toget this field, manufacturers "dope" silicon
with other materials.
❑The top layer is seeded with phosphorous to
give it a negative charge while the bottom layer
is seeded with boron to give it a positive charge.
❑ An electric field at the junction between the
silicon layers is produced.
❑Then, when a photon of sunlight knocks an
electron free, the electric field will push that
electron out of the silicon junction.
 PV CELL EFFICIENCY
Photovoltaic generation of power is caused by
electromagnetic radiation separating positive and
negative charge carriers in absorbing material.

The conversion
efficiency of a solar cell
is defined as a ratio of
output power from the
solar cell with unit area
(W/m2) to the incident
solar irradiance. 11
TYPES OF PV CELL
 TYPES OF PV CELL
➢Silicon is preferred material due to its high efficiency but its cost is high. Research is going
on to find alternative cheaper materials and thin film technology emerging as a suitable
substitute.

➢Thin-film solar panels, are gaining market share as silicon based panels have market share
up to 80%. Thin film cells are cheaper due to use of less materials but efficiency is lower than
mono and polycrystalline cells.

➢Three materials are given more preference in thin film technology as shown in figure . Thin
film cell’s materials have bad impact on environment. Environment friendly polymer and
organic materials are used as alternative materials to thin film solar cells. These are light
weight and cheaper materials but very low efficiency of 4-5%.
CRYSTALLINE SILICON PV CELLS
oCrystalline silicon cells have highest efficiency than all other cells. Pure silicon is
doped with minor amount of boron and phosphorus. A typical solar cell consists of a
glass or plastic cover, an anti-reflective surface layer, front, and back contact to allow
electron to enter a circuit and the semiconductor layers for electron generation. The
thickness of crystalline silicon (c-Si) is from 170-200 µm.
oThere are three types of crystalline silicon cell; mono crystalline, poly crystalline and
gallium arsenide cell. In mono crystalline silicon cell pure mono crystalline silicon is
used. These have typical efficiency of 14-15% and high end just over 20%. The
efficiency of these cell drops with increase in cell temperature. The temperature co-
efficient is minus 0.40-0.50 % per °C.
oPolycrystalline cells are produced using multi grains of mono crystalline silicon. Poly
crystalline cells are cheaper and slightly less efficient than poly crystalline cells. The
typical efficiency of these cells is 13-15% and high end up to 17%.
CRYSTALLINE SILICON PV CELLS
oGallium arsenide (GaAs) is a compound semi conductor by Gallium (Ga) and Arsenic
(As) which has same structure properties as silicon. These are non silicon but due to
similar structure considered as crystalline silicon cell. GaAs has low thickness and
higher efficiency than silicon based cell. Efficiency of GaAs cells can be increased by
alloying it with Al, In, Pand Sb. GaAs is normally used in concentrator PV cell and
space application due to high heat resistance.
 THIN FILM PV CELLS
❖Thin film cell uses less materials and very thin with 35-260 nm thickness. Thin film cells are
made from different materials. If silicon is used, it is in form of amorphous silicon (a-Si) with no
specific crystal structure. Theefficiency of amorphous silicon cell is only 6-7%. Some of the
varieties of amorphous silicon are amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC), amorphous silicon
germanium (a-SiGe), microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si), and amorphous silicon-nitride(a-SiN).
❖Thin film silicon solar cells have used to make multi-junction cells to achieve higher efficiency
than single junction cells. These are compound made from group III and V elements (of periodic
table) used with silicon. Concentrating systems are used to increase the radiation intensity and
efficiency of multi-junction cells.
❖In thin film another material used is Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Cadmium Sulphide (CdS).
This material cell has high efficiency as 15% and high direct solar absorption coefficient. The
temperature co-efficient isaround minus0.25-0.35 per °C.
❖Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) and Copper Indium Selenide (CIS) materials are
also used in thin film cells. Theefficiency of these materials cell is around 10-13% and
moderate temperature co-efficient of minus0.30-0.40% per °C. These are ideal for rooftop
installation.
ORGANIC AND POLYMER PV CELL
oOrganic and polymer solar cells are new technologies and in developing phase. The
efficiency of this cell is very low around 4-5%. These offer fast production and low
cost compared to crystalline silicon cells.
 HYBRID SOLAR PV CELL
oThe hybrid solar cells are combination of crystalline silicon with non-crystalline silicon.
Sanyo has developed a hybrid solar cell with 21% cell efficiency. The base of this cell
is n-type silicon wafer which works as light absorber.
DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR PV CELL
oDue to problem with cell efficiency, materials environment impact and high cost
researchers have developed new materials called dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).
These have efficiency of 10-12%.The first DSSC made in 1991, manufactured from
TiO2 Nano particles. The DSSC has advantage over conventional PV cell due to low
cost, simple manufacturing processes and cheaper raw materials. The maximum
electrical conversion efficiency attained by these cells is 13%, which is lower compared
to silicon-based cells.
CONCENTRATING PV CELL
These are high efficiency multi-junction cells. It uses compounds from group III and V
elements. It could be a top layer of Gallium Arsenide, a middle layer of Gallium
Indium Phosphide and a bottom layer of Germanium. These cells have efficiency up to
40%. High efficiency is because each layer in multi-junction cell designed to absorb
and use different part of solar energy spectrum. The cost is high as elements of group
III & V are expensive. As alternate use mirrors or lens to focus sunlight on a small area
of cells. Concentrating systems are under development ranging in concentration from
tens to hundreds. Theconcentration system is not suitable for small projects.
CONCENTRATING PV CELL
CYLINDRICAL P V M ODUL E
Cylindrical modules incorporating copper indium gallium di-selenide (CIGS) thin-film
technology. The panels employ cylindrical modules, which capture sunlight across a
360-degree photovoltaic surface capable of converting direct, diffuse, and reflected
sunlight intoelectricity.
The tubular design collecting light around 360 degree surface allows to capture more
light early and late in the day. This consistent power generation during the day need a
smaller inverter, saving costs and benefits the overall energy yield. The cylindrical
design attracts less dirt and airborne particles, and moisture or rain that lands or
forms on the modules work to clean the cylinders. Research shows that energy loss due
to soiling on this systemis approximately half of that for conventional flat panels.
CYLINDRICAL P V M ODUL E
PV TERMINOLOGY

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