SUSTENERGY TRAINING ACADEMY

Course : Solar PV Design and Installation

Instructor:
Recap- Types of silicon based solar cells
Solar cells produce electricity when placed in sunlight. They do not get damaged or
used while generating electric power. They can only be damaged by breakage or
severe exposure to the elements.
1. Monocrystalline
2. Polycrystalline cells
3. Amorphous silicon solar cells

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 Modules and Arrays
1. A group of cells make a module or a panel and a group of modules make an array. All
silicon type cells generate a potential difference of 0.5 V in normal operation. Thus, cells
have to be connected in series to bring the voltage to a useful level. 30 to 36 cells are
normally enough to charge a 12 V battery.
2. The current of a solar cell depends on its size and type. A 10 cm square
Monocrystalline cell produces about 3.5 A, under standard test conditions (STC) of 1000
W/m2, 25oC and an air mass of 1.5 (air mass tells how much radiation is absorbed by the
atmosphere.)
3. The peak power of a module (Wp) is the amount of electric power it will produce at
noon on a sunny day when it is facing the sun, under standard test conditions. However,
modules produce less power than their rated peak power in field conditions
4. At least 33 cells are required to charge 12 V batteries in hot conditions above 35 oC. A
40 Wp module with between 33 to 36 cells can harvest enough electricity to power the
lights and small appliances of a small rural household in Africa.

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 Cells, modules and arrays

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 Output of a solar cell module
The output will depend on the;
• number of cells
• type of cells
• total surface area
• amount of solar radiation
• angle of tilt with respect to the sun
• temperature of the module
• voltage at which the load (battery) is drawing power from the module

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Series and Parallel Connection of Modules

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 Solar cell/panel I-V characteristics
Typical I-V Curve

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 Solar cell/panel I-V characteristics
𝑰𝒔𝒄 (short circuit current) is the maximum current a module is capable of producing. Point
B on the diagram.
𝑽𝒐𝒄 (open circuit voltage) is the maximum voltage that the module can produce on a
sunny day. Point C on the diagram
𝑷𝒎 (maximum power point) is the point where the module produces the greatest power.
Point D on diagram

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 Effect of temperature on module output
Most solar electric devices have a lower output as they get hotter. As the temperature
increases, the power output of a solar module decreases.

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 Effect of shading on module output
• If a shadow falls across or part of a module, its electric output will be reduced.
Damage can occur to a module if covered because the cells in a module are
connected in series and they each must carry the same current. When one or more
cells are shaded, it stops producing current and instead consumes current, converting
it into heat.

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 Effect of radiation intensity on module output
The solar cell module output is directly proportional to the solar irradiance. A cloud
cover can reduce the power output of a module drastically. A response curve is shown
below

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 Effect of concentration on module output
• Concentrators are devices that tend to focus the solar radiation onto a collector. These
include the common planar reflectors and the complex concentrating types as shown
below.
Light source
Light source

Solar reflectors

Solar collector

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 Effect of solar tracking on module output
• The horizontal or single axis tracker, rotate the collector along the horizontal and the
polar axis or the double axis tracker rotate the collector in the horizontal and vertical
motion.

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 Calculation of solar module output
The output of a module in field conditions can be estimated by multiplying the current
produced by the module at load times the number of peak sun hours at the site. Peak
sun hours is the number of hours each day when solar irradiance averages 1000W/m2.
• For example, if a site receives 5 peak sun hours (5psh) and if the current output of
module is 3.1A, then operating current = 3.1 × 5 = 15.5Ah.
• If the charging voltage is 12V, then the module energy output = 12 × 15.5 = 186Wh.
• Thus, modules should be chosen according to the energy required of the system
load.

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 Calculation of cell/module efficiency
Another quantity that is commonly used in photovoltaic is fill-factor (FF). Fill-factor is
defined as the ratio of maximum power (Pmax) to the product of short-circuit current (Isc)
and open-circuit voltage (Voc). It is a quality factor parameter.
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐹𝐹 = .
𝐼𝑠𝑐 𝑉𝑜𝑐
Hence, the efficiency of the cell or module may be calculated from
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝜂 =
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑑 × 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒

𝐹𝐹×𝐼𝑠𝑐 𝑉𝑜𝑐
= .
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑑 ×𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒

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 Thank You

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