EN 301

Introduction to Renewable Energy

Technologies

Lecture‐17
Solar PV Cells and Modules

Prof. C.S. Solanki

Department of Energy Science and Engineering
[email protected]

© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 1

 Recap of last lecture

 Solar cell structure and terminology

 Choice of anti ‐ reflection coating
 Absorption probability
 I‐V model of solar cell
 IQE: demonstration recombination

© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 2

 In this lecture

 Discuss about Short circuit potential and Open circuit voltage

 Explain the maximum power and efficiency of the solar cell
 Identifying the design and structure of Solar PV module
 I‐V relationship of solar module
 Fabrication of solar module

© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 3

 Short-Circuit Current, Isc
I • The short-circuit current is the
Isc current through the solar cell
X Pm when the voltage across the
Im
solar cell is zero (i.e., when the
solar cell is short circuited).

Vm Voc • The short-circuit current is

due to the generation and
I total  I 0 (e qV / kT
 1)  I L
collection of light-generated
charge carriers.
At V=0  Itotal = -IL= Isc • Short-circuit current is the
largest current which may be
Isc = q A (W +Lp + Ln) drawn from the solar cell.
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies & 4
 Open Circuit Voltage: Voc
I • The open-circuit voltage, Voc, is
Isc the maximum voltage available
Pm from a solar cell, and this
Im
occurs at zero current.

• The open-circuit voltage

X corresponds to the amount of
Vm forward bias on the solar cell
Voc junction due to illumination.

I total  I 0 (e qV / kT
 1)  I L kT I L
Voc  ln(  1)
by setting Itotal = 0 q I0
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies & 5
 Maximum power: Pm
I • Power out of a solar cell
Isc Pm increases with voltage,
Im X reaches a maximum (Pm)
and then decreases
again.

Vm Voc
Pm = Im x Vm

Remember we get DC power from a solar cell

© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies & 6

 Fill Factor: FF
I Ideal diode curve
Isc • The FF is defined as the
Pm ratio of the maximum power
Im
from the actual solar cell to
the maximum power from a
ideal solar cell
Vm Voc

Graphically, the FF is a measure of the "squareness" of the solar cell

Max power from real cell Vm I m

FF  
Max power from ideal cell Voc I sc
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies & 7
 Efficiency: η
• Efficiency is defined as the ratio
I of energy output from the solar
Isc Pm cell to input energy from the sun.
Im X
Max. Cell Power Vm I m
 
Incident light Intensity Pin

Vm Voc Voc I sc FF

Pin

• The efficiency is the most commonly used parameter to

compare the performance of one solar cell to another.
• Efficiency of a cell also depends on the solar spectrum,
intensity of sunlight and the temperature of the solar cell.
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies & 8
Typical industrial Si cell parameters

Voc – 0.55 to 0.62V

Isc – 33 to 37 mA/cm2
Calculate the efficiency
Vm = 0.8 to 0.9 of Voc of a typical solar cell
with the these
parameters
Im = 09 to 0.95 of Isc

FF = 70 to 78%

Efficiency ??
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 9
 Solar PV Module

© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 10

Solar PV module
A solar PV module is a device in which
several solar cells are connected together
to generate more power than a single
solar cell.

Different types
of PV modules
Identifying Solar PV Module
Closer look of arrangement of cells in PV modules

Monocrystalline Polycrystalline
PV module PV module
PV module
An array of several solar cells connected in series and
parallel for getting larger power output
Inter connection of solar cells:
• Thin film technology: While process of manufacturing of solar
cell
• Wafer based technology: Solar cells are manufactured first
and then interconnected
Power output:
• Power output per solar cell can be as small as 0.25 Wp (
I= 1000 W/m2 , Normal cell area- 15 x15=225 cm2 ,Cell efficiency - 10 to
25% )

• This power is not enough for home lighting, water pumping

applications.
PV module Power rating is from 3 Wp to 300 Wp .
 Solar PV array
Module Array
Cell
Solar PV array:
• Interconnected
solar PV modules.

• Provide power of
100 W to several
MW.
I

PV _ _
V + +
module

Interconnection of solar cells into solar PV modules and modules into solar PV
arrays. Schematic representation of PV module is also shown.
 Series and parallel connection of cells
Series connection
•Let us consider a solar cell having Voc of 0.6 V and Isc of 0.8 A.
When two identical cells are connected in series, the Voc of the two
cells will be added.
The Isc will be the same as that of a single cell

0. 0.8
8
Current (A)

Current (A)
0. 0.6
6
0. 0.4
4
0. 0.2
2

0 0. 0. 0. 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2

2 Voltage (V)
4 6 Voltage (V)
(a) (b)
I-V characteristics of identical solar cells (a) single cell, (b) two cells in
series
 Series and parallel connection of cells
Parallel connection
• Isc the two cells will be added .
• Voc of the combination will remain same as that of single cell.
Series and Parallel Combination
• When more than one series connected cells are connected in
parallel,
more current and voltage will obtain
1. 1.6

Current (A)
6
Current (A)

1. 1.2
2
0. 0.8
8
0. 0.4
4

0 0. 0. 0. 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2

2 Voltage (V)
4 6 Voltage (V)

I-V characteristics of identical solar cells (a) two cell connected in

parallel
(b) series and parallel combination of cells.
Hot-Spot Heating
Hot-spot heating occurs when there is one low current solar cell in a
string of at least several high short-circuit current solar cells
9 Unshaded cell 1 shaded cell

One shaded cell in a string reduces the current through the good cells,
causing the good cells to produce higher voltages that can often reverse
bias the bad cell
 Power gets dissipated in the “poor” cell
Local overheating, or "hot-spots", leads to
destructive effects
 Cell or glass cracking, melting of solder or
degradation of the solar cell.
Bypass diode
Bypass diode is a diode which is used to avoid the destructive effect of
hot spots
or local heating in series connected cells. cell 1

 Bypass diode, is connected in +

parallel with solar cells with V
-
opposite polarity
 In normal condition the
bypass diode operates in
-
reverse bias condition. V
+
 If a series connected cell is
shaded, reverse bias will
appear across it non matched or
shaded cell cell 2 Bypass diode
 This reverse bias will act as a
forward bias for the bypass
Placing of bypass
diode
 Extra current will be bypassed diode in parallel with
cells
 Design and Structure of PV modules
Series Connection
3.9 IA • Usually cell in
sc
module exhibits
Current 36 cells in identical
series characteristics
• Shape of the I-V
curve of the module is
Voltage Voc
same as that of cells
21 Volts
Parallel with change in scale of
Connection 7.8 A axis
• I-V relationship for N
Isc cell in series and M
cell in parallel
Current

Voltage Voc
63 Volts
I-V relationship of modules
q (V  IR s )
I  I L  [ I oe nkT
 1] Similar to solar
cell, I-V
 I L  I  Io  relationship for
V   IRs  K ln 
series connected
 Io  and parallel
 I Lmo  I mo  I omo  connected
Vmo   I mo Rsmo  K mo ln 
 I omo  modules can be
 I L  I mo  I o  written
Vmo   I mo N s Rs  N s K ln 
 Io 
Rs  N sh I L  I mo  N p I o 
Vmo   I mo  K ln 
Np  N p Io 
 
N s Rs  N sh I L  I a  N p I o 
Va   I a  N s K ln 
Np  N I 
 p o 
 Fabrication of PV modules
The cells should also be protected from dust, rain, mechanical shock etc.
So the PV modules should package by using :
1. Glass at the front side
• Low iron content, toughened and
glass
textured Glass Encapsulant
• Higher transmitivity (over 90%) (EVA)
solar cells
2. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) for encapsulant
encapsulation
Tedlar
•High electrical resistivity (1014 Ω-cm)
•Very low water absorption ratio
•Good optical transmission
3. Solar cells ( array)
4. Rear layer (Tedlar – white colour) Components of Si
•back reflection of light wafer based PV
5. Outer frame (Al) module.
Module Structure

Rays

Glass cover

EVA
Solar cell
Contacts

Rear sheet (typically Tedlar)

 Flow chart
Fabrication of PV modules

Series
Contact soldering at interconnection
Cell sorting front side (tabbing) of cells
(stringing)

Module Framing & Laminate curing Preparing

external connection and lamination assembly
polymerization
Flowchart of wafer based PV
Module I-V module fabrication showing steps
characterization from cell sorting till PV module
characterization.
 Packing density of PV modules
Packing density of a PV module is defined as the percentage of the
cell area in the entire module area.

The packing density depends on the shape of the solar

cells
• Circular solar cell (70%)
• Pseudo-square shaped cell (80%)
Increasing packing
• Square solar cells (90%) density

Packing density affects

• Output power of the module
• Operating temperature
Circular
(a) Pseudo Square
(b) (c)
square
Schematic demonstrating the
packing density of cells based
on their shape
© IIT Bombay, C.S. Solanki Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies 25