3-Solar Cell Slides

Solar Cell
 Top has several

metallic contact fingers
forming cell’s negative
terminal.
 Back has metal contact
form the cell’s positive
terminal.
 Total thickness is ~ 0.3
mm.
Solar Cell
 Solar cell consists
of two different
layers of Silicon
deliberately doped
with small quantities
of impurities atoms
(n-type and p-type)
joined together to
form a p-n junction.
Solar Cell
 Monocrystalline
Silicon is shown
next.
 Thin n-type layer
interfaced with a
thicker p-type layer
(p-n junction).
 Photons hit the
top
 Some are
productive and some
are not.
Photons on Solar Cells
 Optical reflection
(Photons 1,2,3)
 Photons with a certain
minimum energy
(bandgap) create an
electron-hole pairs near
interfacing and contribute
to the electrical output
(Photons 4 and 5).
 Photons (less
productive) create an
electron-hole pairs far from
(Photon 6) -
recombination.
PV Effect
 Majority carriers are
the main players in
diodes.
 Light-generated
minority carriers are the
main players in PV cells.
 Potential barrier
inhibits transfer majority
carriers across a p-n
junction (a hill to climb).
PV Effect
 Potential barrier
encourages transfer
minority carriers across a
p-n junction (a hill to roll
down).
 Minority carriers are
collected at the cell
terminals producing an
output current
proportional to the light
intensity.
Model
 Equivalent circuit consists of:

diode (p-n junction)
current source (light-generated current)
Current flowing into the circuit (I)
I = ID  IL
Characteristic Curves - Dark
 In the dark, I = ID.
 Cell’s dark characteristics lie in the 1st or 3rd quadrants
(I and V are both positive or negative).
 When sufficient light falls on the cell, I must reverse and
the characteristic shift into 4th quadrant (I is –ve and V is
+ve).
Characteristic Curves - Light
I is proportional to the
light intensity.
I = ID  IL
I-V characteristic is
shifted down by IL.
Characteristic Curves
Solar Cells are rated at
peak/maximum watt (Wp)
delivered under standard
conditions (1000 W/m2,
25 C, AM1.5)
Solar cell at a given
insolation provides a more
or less fixed current over a
wide range of voltage.
Battery provides a more
or less fixed voltage over a
wide range of current.
 Open-circuit voltage
(Voc) :
 Maximum voltage of
the cell
 Intercept on the voltage
axis
 In the range of 0.5 – 0.6
V (cell)
 Does not depend greatly
on insolation
 Similar to forward
voltage of a diode
 Short-circuit current
(Isc) :
 Maximum current from
the cell
 Intercept on the current
axis
 Depends greatly on
insolation and cell’s area
 I-V characteristic
curves of solar cells in
the 4th quadrant are
normally “flipped over”.
This figure is for a
solar cell rated at 2 Wp.
Power
 Think in solar cells as current source not voltage source.
 Cell’s power = V  I
Power
 MPP (maximum power point) is obtained by
operating the cell at slightly below max voltage and
below max current.
Power
 At MPP: Pmp = Imp  Vmp
 Power = 0 at either open voltage (Isc=0) or short
circuit (Voc=0)
Maximum Power
At P1 V ≈ 0.52
V and I ≈ 3.8 A
Power ≈ 2 W
(This cell has a
maximum
power of 2 Wp
at 1000 W/m2,
25 C, AM1.5).
Maximum Power
 Power at
P2 >P3 > P4
(750 W/m2 >
500 W/m2 >
250 W/m2)
 At P2, P3, P4
power is less
than 2 W
(Insolation is
less than
1000 W/m2).
Fill Factor (FF)
 A measure of performance that reflects the overall quality of

the cell.
 FF = Area of small rectangular / Area of large rectangular.
Fill Factor (FF)
 FF = (Imp Vmp)/ (Isc Voc)
 An ideal cell has FF = 1 (I is constant at Isc and suddenly
goes to zero).
 Practically FF = 0.7
Temperature Effect
 As temperature of
the cell increases, Voc
decreases (large effect)
and Isc increases (small
effect).
 Cell loses power as
its temperature
increases (serious
effect in crystalline
silicon).
Major Types of Silicon Solar Cells
Monocrystalline cells:
Single crystal
Fine contacts fingers
and busbars to conduct
current away from cell
Expensive than
polycrystalline
Pseudo-square shape
Commercial efficiency:
http://www.123rf.com/photo_10866176_mon
12 – 16 % o-crystalline-solar-cells.html (19/08/2013)
Module surface area: 7
m2/kWp
Polycrystalline
(multicrystalline) cells:
Irregular random
multicrystal
Fine contacts fingers and
busbars to conduct current
away from cell
Cheaper than
monocrystalline
Square or rectangular
shape
Commercial efficiency: 11 http://www.solarvisenergy.co.uk
– 15 % (19/08/2013)
Module surface area: 8
m2/kWp
Amorphous cells:
Very thin layer (thin
film) of silicon
Cheaper than
crystalline cells (easy to
manufacture).
Commercial
efficiency: 6 – 8 %
Module surface area: www.ge-energy.com (19/8/2013)
16 m2/kWp
Cells Efficiency
 The higher the efficiency, the smaller the surface area for a
given power rating.
 As area increases, costs of mounting and fixing modules
increases.
 Crystalline cells have the highest efficiencies when operated in
strong sunlight.
 Other cells types perform better in weak or diffuse light.
 Reports show that the annual energy yield of thin film
outperform crystalline especially in climates with significant
cloud cover and plenty of diffuse light
 Modules’ efficiency is less than cells’ efficiency because
modules’ surface can not be completely covered by cells and
frame takes up space.

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Solar Cell

 Top has several

 Equivalent circuit consists of:

 A measure of performance that reflects the overall quality of

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