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RES Module 2.2

Solar cells convert light energy into electricity through the photovoltaic effect, utilizing a p-n junction created by two types of semiconductors. These cells can be combined into modules and panels to form photovoltaic systems, which can be either stand-alone or grid-tied, each with specific advantages and disadvantages. Applications include domestic lighting and water pumping, while components of a PV system include modules, inverters, batteries, and balance of system components.

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8 views15 pages

RES Module 2.2

Solar cells convert light energy into electricity through the photovoltaic effect, utilizing a p-n junction created by two types of semiconductors. These cells can be combined into modules and panels to form photovoltaic systems, which can be either stand-alone or grid-tied, each with specific advantages and disadvantages. Applications include domestic lighting and water pumping, while components of a PV system include modules, inverters, batteries, and balance of system components.

Uploaded by

yukti.neerukonda
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Module – II: Solar Energy

Solar cells
• A solar cell is an electrical device that converts the energy of light
directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
• Solar cells are often bundled/combined together designed to
increase electric power output are called solar modules.
• Interconnection of two or more solar modules constitutes a bigger
unit called solar panel.
• Arrangement of two or more panels constitutes PV system/arrays.
Principle of solar cell – Photovoltaic effect
• The photovoltaic effect is a process that generates voltage or
electric current in a photovoltaic cell when it is exposed to sunlight.
• Solar cells are composed of two different types of semiconductors a p-type
and an n-type, that are joined together to create a p-n junction.
• By joining these two types of semiconductors, an electric field is formed
in the region of the junction as electrons move to the positive p-side and
holes move to the negative n-side.
• This field causes negatively charged particles to move in one direction
and positively charged particles in the other direction.
• Light is composed of photons, which are simply small bundles of
electromagnetic radiation or energy. When light of a suitable wavelength
is incident on these cells, energy from the photon is transferred to an
electron of the semiconducting material, causing it to jump to a higher
energy state known as the conduction band.
• In their excited state in the conduction band, these electrons are free to
move through the material, and it is this motion of the electron that
creates an electric current in the cell.
Construction and working of solar cell
• A photovoltaic cell is basically a specially designed p-n junction diode.
• Two separate semiconductors (silicon doped with Phosphorus, arsenic,
bismuth etc.) are sandwiched together forming a p-n junction at the
interface. In the device, although both materials are electrically neutral,
n-type has excess electrons and p-type silicon has excess holes.
• The device is constructed in such a way that when the junction is exposed
to visible light, a voltage difference is produced between the p-type and
n-type materials. This is due to the flow of excess electrons from the n-
type material to the p-type material, and the holes thereby vacated from
p-type material flow towards n-type material.
• As known, sunlight is composed of photons or particles of solar energy.
When sunlight strikes the photovoltaic cell, the semiconductor material
absorbs photons from the light.
• When enough photons are absorbed by the negative layer of the
semiconductor material, electrons get dislodged which then moves
towards positive layer through p-n junction. This flow of electrons
constitutes an electric current.
• Electrodes connected to the semiconductor layer, allow current to be
drawn from the device which is proportional to the intensity of incident
light.
Advantages
• Environmentally friendly, pollution free
• very low maintenance and repair.
• Solar PV cells can generate electricity anywhere – Versatile
• Easy to install.

Disadvantages
• PV cells require an additional investment in
inverters and storage batteries.
• Larger surface area consumption.
• Reduced efficiency during cloudy or rainy weather.
• Very high initial cost for installation

Applications: Domestic lighting, railway


signals, water pumping, street lighting etc.
Photovoltaic System for Electric Power Generation
• A photovoltaic (PV) system is composed of one or more solar
panels combined with an inverter and other electrical and
mechanical hardware that use heat energy from the sun to generate
electricity.
• Types of PV systems: Stand Alone or Off - Grid & Grid – Tied
PV systems
• Stand Alone systems: It is designed to be independent of the
power grid. Batteries are used to store energy when the sun is not
an available during cloudy days or at night.

An electrical/power grid is an
interconnected network for electricity
delivery from producers to consumers.
• Grid – Tied systems: They generate solar electricity and route it
to the loads and to the grid, offsetting some of electricity usage.
The drawback of these battery less systems is that they provide no
outage protection—when the utility grid fails, these systems
cannot operate.

• Hybrid systems may be possible were battery storage or a


generator (or both) can be combined with a grid connection for
additional reliability and scheduling flexibility (at additional
cost).
Components of PV system for electricity generation
• Photovoltaic (PV) Modules: The basic building block of a photovoltaic
module is the photovoltaic cell; these convert solar energy into electricity
• Inverters: Inverters are used to transform DC current into AC currents. Stand-
Alone Inverters & Grid – Tied Inverters
• Batteries: These are most commonly used to store energy in stand-alone
applications for use at times when no irradiance is available (e.g. night, rainy
day). Nickel-Cadmium batteries can also be used in PV applications.
• Balance of System Components (BOS): They are the additional elements necessary
in order to properly install the PV system. It includes Overcurrent Protection, Ground
Fault Protection, Mounting Gear (support structure), Metering Equipment, Charge
Controllers, Battery Enclosures.
• Charge controllers: Charge controllers are part of the electrical equipment costs.
These control the current flow from the PV array to the battery in order to ensure
proper charging. These controllers disconnect the PV array from the battery whenever
produced energy exceeds battery storage capacity or the load whenever charge levels
are dangerously low or reach a certain threshold. It is common for charge controllers to
monitor battery voltage, temperature, or a combination of both to determine depth of
discharge.
Working
• Solar PV systems use cells to convert sunlight into electricity. The PV cell
consists of one or two layers of a semi conducting material, usually silicon. When
light shines on the cell it creates an electric field across the layers causing
electricity to flow.
• The solar panels generate DC electricity from sunlight which is fed through an
inverter to convert it into AC electricity.
• The power from the array, converted by the inverter, is then connected via
isolators – one on the DC (PV module) side and another on the AC side - into the
consumer unit via an MCB.
• The current is then collected are used immediately or stored in a battery of the
photovoltaic system.
• A monitoring system (electric meters) enables the remote monitoring of the
photovoltaic systems, energy production and consumption as well as verifying
the status of the inverter.

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