CHAPTER 6

SOLAR

CELL

SOLAR CELL
(PART I)

WORLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION

2010

2014

Source : http://www.ren21.net/REN21Activities/GlobalStatusReport.aspx

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY

Solar Impulse 2 to fly around the
world only by the suns rays.
35,000-kilometer, five month journey
across the globe, via India, Myanmar,
China and the U.S.
March 9, 2015 took off from Abu
Dhabi to Oman
Features:
8-square meter single-seater cockpit.
72-meter (236-foot) wingspan
2.5 tons plane weighs

What is Solar Energy?

Energy produced by the sun
Convert light into usable energy
such as electricity
Type :
Bio mass
Hydropower
Solar radiation
Wind power

 World top PV installer

2014 : 1.4 mil PV system installed covers small roof top system, medium
commercial and large utility-scale solar park contribute to 35.2 terawatthours ( 6.9 %)
31% utilize renewable energy : wind , PV
world record solar power production with 25.8 GW produced at midday
on April 20 and April 21, 2015

One of the largest PV installer

Involved 400 PV companies
2011 (2.5 GW), 2012 (5 GW), 2013 (11.3 GW)
installed capacity possibly reaching as much as 10 GW by 2020
200 MW Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS

10

PV effect :
the conversion of light (photon) into electrical energy
Types:
Inorganic Solar cell ( Single-crystal silicon, a-Si, GaAs)
Widespread
Efficiency : 15 20%
Expensive to manufacture
Organic solar cell
ultra thin, tunable colour
Efficiency : 12%
not yet to be commercialize

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
Electrochemical Dye- solar cell
Newer, less proven
Inexpensive to manufacture
Flexible
(-) : degradation issues

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

Solar cell : pn junction with light shining on it
To maximize efficiency , we must:
- maximize e--h+ pairs
- minimize recombination of e--h+ pairs

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

ACTIVE LAYER

Consist of excess electron

Consist of positively charge hole

Depletion region avoid the

movement of electron and
hole across region

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

As energy of light is absorbed by semiconductor e--h+ pairs
will be created

Create extra mobile electron and hole.

Electric field occur as electron flow to n-doped layer and hole
flow to p-doped layer photogeneration of charge carrier
More electron in n-doped layer
More hole in p-doped layer
Connect to electrical appliances i.e. lamp electric flow
turn on light

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

One PV Cell is approx 150mm in
diameter
In bright sunshine it produces 0.4V d.c.
One Module is an array of approx 30
cells
Connected together in series/parallel for
desired voltage
Life span is about 25 yrs
Cost varies : 300 - 600 per m2

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL CONSTRUCTION

Solar panel rating :

Max voltage in single PV Cell is

approx 0.4V (D.C.)
Current depends on sun intensity
(Max of 2.5A)
Average voltage from a module is
20V (D.C.)

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL
Various factors effect power output from
panels :
Shade or Clouds
Panel position or angle
Active panels can track the sun
Temperature and solar irradiance
variations
Air gap required for cooling
Partial shading will reduce performance
and can cause damage

SOLAR CELL
(PART II)

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

The intensity of radiation emitted from the sun has a spectrum that resembles
a black body radiation at a temperature of about 6,000 K
This spectrum is modified by:
Effects of the solar atmosphere
Fraunhofer absorption (absorption by hydrogen)
Temperature variations on the surface of the sun facing us
The actual intensity spectrum on Earths surface depends:
on the absorption and scattering effects of the atmosphere
on the atmospheric composition
the radiation path length through the atmosphere

21

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

2.5
Black body radiation at 6000 K

2.0

AM0

Spectral
Intensity 1.5
W cm-2 (m)-1

AM1.5

1.0
0.5
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.8

1.6

Wavelength (m)

The spectrum of the solar energy represented as spectral

intensity (I) vs wavelength above the earth's atmosphere
(AM0 radiation) and at the earth's surface (AM1.5
radiation). Black body radiation at 6000 K is shown for
comparison (After H.J. Mller, Semiconductors for Solar
Cells, Artech House Press, Boston, 1993, p.10)
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

22

2.0

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

Light intensity variation with wavelength is typically represented by
intensity per unit wavelength, called spectral intensity I, so that I is the
intensity in a small interval
Integration of I over the whole spectrum gives the integrated or total
intensity, I
The integrated intensity above Earths atmosphere gives the total power
flow through a unit area perpendicular to the direction of the sun
This quantity is called the solar constant or air-mass zero (AM0) radiation
and it is approximately constant at a value of 1.353 kW/m2

23

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

Atmospheric effects depend on the wavelength
Clouds increase the absorption and scattering of the sun light and
hence substantially reduced the incident intensity
On a clear sunny day, the light intensity arriving on Earths surface is
roughly 70% of the intensity above the atmosphere
Absorption and scattering effects increase with the sun beams path
through the atmosphere
The shortest path through the atmosphere is when the sun is directly
above that location and the received spectrum is called air-mass one
(AM1) as shown in the figure
24

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

All other angles of incidence ( 90 increase the optical path
through the atmosphere, and hence the atmospheric losses

Air-mass m (AMm) is defined as the ratio of the actual

radiation path h to the shortest path h0, that is m=h/h0
Since h = h0sec, AMm is AMsec
It is apparent that the spectrum has several sharp absorption
peaks at certain wavelength which are due to those
wavelengths being absorbed by various molecules in the
atmosphere, such as ozone, air and water vapor molecules
25

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

AM0
h0 Atmosphere

Earth

AM1

AM(s ec )

Tilted PV device

(a)

(a) Illustration of the effect of the angle of incidence

Direct

Diffus e
(b)

on the ray path length and the

definitions of AM0, AM1 and AM(sec ). The angle between the sun beam and the horizon
is the solar latitude (b) Scattering reduces the intensity and gives rise to a diffused radiation
1999 S .O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
26

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

In addition, the atmospheric molecules and dust particles scatter the
sun light

Scattering not only reduces the intensity on the radiation towards

Earth but also gives rise to the suns rays arriving at random angles as

shown in the figure

Consequently the terrestrial light has a diffuse component in addition
to the direct component
The diffuse component increases with cloudiness and suns position
27

Solar Energy Spectrum

Direct and Diffuse solar radiation
Direct
Direct Radiation is solar radiation reaching
the Earth's surface after without having
been scattered
Diffuse
Diffuse radiation is solar radiation reaching
the Earth's surface after having
been scattered from the direct solar beam
by molecules.
The diffuse component increases with cloudiness
and suns position

28

SOLAR ENERGY SPECTRUM

The scattering of light increases with decreasing wavelength so that
shorter wavelengths in the original sun beam experience more
scattering than longer wavelengths
On a clear day, the diffuse component can be roughly 20% of the total
radiation and significantly higher on cloudy days

29

Example

30

solution

31

solution

32

Photovoltaic device: Structure

Consider a pn junction with a very narrow and more heavily doped nregion
Illumination is through the thin n-side
Depletion region (W) or the space charge layer (SCL) extends primarily
into the p-side
There is a built-in field E0 in this depletion layer

33

Physics of Photovoltaic Generation

n-type
semiconductor
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Depletion Zone
p-type
semiconductor

Photovoltaic device: Structure

Electrodes attached to the n-side must:
allow illumination to enter the device
at the same time result in a small series resistance

They are deposited on to n-side to form an array of finger electrodes

on the surface
A thin antireflection coating on the surface reduces reflections and
allows more light to enter the device

35

36

Bus electrode
for current collection

Finger electrodes

n
p

Finger electrodes on the surface of a solar cell

reduce the series resistance
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
37

Photovoltaic device: EHP

n-side is very narrow so most of the photons are absorbed within:
the depletion region (W)
the neutral p-side (lp)
(Photogeneration also occur in these regions)
EHPs photogenerated in the depletion region are immediately separated by the
built-in field E0 which drifts them apart
The electron drifts and reaches the neutral n+ side whereupon it makes this
region negative by an amount of charge e
Similarly the hole drifts and reaches the neutral p-side and thereby makes this
side positive
38

Photovoltaic device: EHP

Open circuit voltage develops between the terminals of the device
with the p-side positive with respect to the n-side
If an external load is connected then the excess electron in the n-side
can travel around the external circuit, do work, and reach the p-side
to recombine with the excess hole there
Without the internal field E0 it is not possible to drift apart the
photogenerated EHPs and accumulate excess electrons on the n-side
and excess holes on the p-side

39

Photovoltaic device:
EHP by long wavelengths
EHPs photogenerated by long wavelength photons that are absorbed
in the neutral p-side can only diffuse in this region as there is no
electric field
If the recombination lifetime of the electron is e, it diffuses a mean
distance Le given by
Le

2De e

where De is its diffusion coefficient in the p-side

Electrons within a distance Le to the depletion region can readily
diffuse and reach this region whereupon they become drifted by E0 to
the n-side
40

Photovoltaic device:
EHP by long wavelengths
Only EHPs photogenerated within the minority carrier diffusion length
Le to the depletion layer can contribute to the photovoltaic effect
Again the importance of the built-in field E0 is apparent
Once an electron diffuses to the depletion region it is swept over to
the n-side by E0 to give an additional negative charge there
Holes left behind in the p-side contribute a net positive charge to this
region

41

Photovoltaic device:
EHP by long wavelengths
Those photogenerated EHPs further away from depletion region than Le
are lost by recombination
It is therefore important to have the minority carrier diffusion length Le as
long as possible
This is the reason for choosing this side of a Si pn junction to be p-type
which makes electrons to be the minority carriers; the electron diffusion
length in Si is longer than the hole diffusion length

42

Photovoltaic device:
EHP by short wavelengths
The same ideas also apply to EHPs photogenerated by short-wavelength
photons absorbed in the n-side
Holes photogenerated within a diffusion length Lh can reach the depletion
layer and become swept across to the p-side
The photogeneration of EHPs that contribute to the photovoltaic effect
therefore occurs in a volume covering Lh + W + Le
If the terminals of the device are shorted, then the excess electron in the
n-side can flow through the external circuit to neutralize the excess hole
in the p-side
43

EHPs
exp(x)
x

Lh

Le

Iph
Photogenerated carriers within the volume Lh + W + L e give rise to a photocurrent I ph. The
variation in the photegenerated EHP concentration with distance is also shown where is the
absorption coefficient at the wavelength of interest.
1999 S .O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

44

Photovoltaic device
Current due to flow of photogenerated carriers is photocurrent
EHPs photogenerated by energetic photons absorbed in the n-side
near the surface region or outside the diffusion length Lh to the
depletion layer are lost by recombination as the lifetime in the n-side
is generally very short (due to heavy doping)
The n-side is therefore made very thin, typically less than 0.2 m or
less

45

Photovoltaic device
Indeed, the length ln of the n-side maybe shorter than the hole
diffusion length Lh
The EHP photogenerated very near the surface of the n-side however
disappear by recombination due to various surface defects acting as
recombination centers

46

Photovoltaic device
At long wavelengths, around 1-1.2 m, the absorption coefficient of
Si is small and the absorption depth (1/) is typically greater than 100
m
To capture these long wavelength photons we therefore need a thick
p-side and at the same time a long minority carrier diffusion length Le
Typically the p-side is 200-500 m and Le tends to be shorter than this

47

Photovoltaic device: Losses

Worst part of the efficiency limitation comes from the high energy
photons becoming absorbed near the crystal surface and being lost
by recombination in the surface region
Crystal surfaces and interfaces contain a high concentration of
recombination centers which facilitate the recombination of
photogenerated EHP near the surface

48

Photovoltaic device: Losses

Losses due to EHP recombinations near or at the surface can as high
as 40%
These combined effects bring the efficiency down to about 45%
In addition, the antireflection coating is not perfect which reduces the
total collected photons by a factor of about 0.8-0.9
When we also include the limitations of the photovoltaic action itself ,
the upper limit to a photovoltaic device that uses a single crystal of Si
is about 24-26% at room temperature

49

Short-wavelength
infrared

wavelength

Photon energy

1.4-3 m

0.40.9 eV

Mid-wavelength infrared 38 m

150400 meV

Long-wavelength infrared 815 m

80150 meV

50

pn JUNCTION PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

Guess what it is ??

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

Light

I = Id Iph

Isc = Iph

Id
V

Iph V = 0

R
(a)

V
Iph

R
(b)

(c)

(a) The solar cell connected to an external load R and the convention for the definitions of
positive voltage and positive current. (b) The solar cell in short circuit. The current is the
photocurrent, Iph. (c) The solar cell driving an external load R. There is a voltage V and current
I in the circuit.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

Light

I = Id Iph

Isc = Iph

Id
V

Iph V = 0

R
(a)

V
Iph

R
(b)

(c)

(a) The solar cell connected to an external load R and the convention for the definitions of
positive voltage and positive current. (b) The solar cell in short circuit. The current is the
photocurrent, Iph. (c) The solar cell driving an external load R. There is a voltage V and current
I in the circuit.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

The voltage V and current I above define the convention for the
direction of positive current and voltage.

PHOTOVOLTAIC
I-V
CHARACTERISTICS
PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS
Consider an ideal pn junction photovoltaic device connected to a
resistive load R.
I and V define the convention for the direction of positive current
and positive voltage.
Light

I = Id Ip

Isc = Iph

Iph V = 0

If the load is short

circuit the only current(b)
in the circuit is due to
(a)
photogenerated (photocurrent),Iph.

R
(c)

(a) The solar cell connected to an external load R and the convention for the definitions
positive voltage and positive current. (b) The solar cell in short circuit. The current is the

PHOTOVOLTAIC
I-V CHARACTERISTICS
Photovoltaic
I-V Characteristics
If I is the light intensity, then the short circuit current is

I sc I ph KI

K is constant that depends on particular device

The photocurrent does not depend on the voltage across the pn jucntion, because it
always some internal field to drift the photogenerated EHP.
If R is not short circuit the positive voltage V appears across the pn junction as a result
of the current passing through.

ight

I = Id Iph

Isc = Iph

Id
V

Iph V = 0

V
Iph

Photovoltaic
I-V Characteristics
PHOTOVOLTAIC
I-V CHARACTERISTICS
Under short circuit conditions (figure b), the only
current in the circuit is the photocurrent Iph generated
by the incident light.

K= Ratio of nonradiative to radiative losses in a solar

cell material
Or
K is constant that depends on particular device

PHOTOVOLTAIC
I-VCharacteristics
CHARACTERISTICS
Photovoltaic I-V
If a load R is now inserted as in the figure (c), a positive voltage V
appears across the diode which forward biases the diode.
There is now minority carrier injection and the resulting diode
current.

Where I0 = reverse saturation current

PHOTOVOLTAIC
I-VCharacteristics
CHARACTERISTICS
Photovoltaic I-V
Thus, the total current (solar cell current),

n is the ideality factor that depends on the

semiconductor material and fabrication

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

Light

I
characteristics

The I-V
solar cell (Fig.).
V

I = Id Iph

Isc = Iph

of a typical Si

Id

Iph V = 0

Iph

Normal dark characteristics being shifted

down by photocurrent Iph (short circuit),
whichRdepend on light intensity, I.
(a)

(b)

I (mA)

R
(c)

20

Dark
The
open
circuit
voltage,
V
,
is
given
by
oc
a) The solar cell connected to an external load R and the convention for the definitions of
pointand
where
thecurrent.
I-V curve
cuts
thecell
V-in short circuit. The current is the Voc
positivethe
voltage
positive
(b) The
solar
0 R. There is a voltage V and current
photocurrent,
(c) The solar cell driving an external load
axis (II=
ph.0).
0.6
0.2
0.4

in the circuit.

Iph

Light

1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

20

Twice the light

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

I (mA)

Light

I
V

0
0.2

10

Isc= Iph

0.4

Voc
0.6

I-V for a solar cell under an

illumination of 600 Wm-2.

Slope = 1/R

Operating Point

The Load Line for R = 30

(I-V for the load)

20
(a)

(b)

(a) When a solar cell drives a load R, R has the same voltage as the solar cell
but the current through it is in the opposite direction to the convention that
current flows from high to low potential. (b) The current I and voltage V in
the circuit of (a) can be found from a load line construction. Point P is the
operating point (I, V). The load line is for R = 30 .
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

Since the open circuit voltage is the maximum voltage possible, and
short circuit current Isc is the maximum current possible, the
unachievable maximum power = Isc Voc. It is therefore useful to
compare the maximum power output, Im Vm.
The fill factor is a measure of how close to the maximum power is a
particular operating point.

PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CHARACTERISTICS

The efficiency of the solar cell

The input sun-light power is

Pinput = (Light Intensity)(Surface Area)
The power delivered to the load is

Photovoltaic I-V Characteristics

Two different Vsc

Voc 2 Voc1

n is the ideality factor

that depends on the
semiconductor material
nk BT
I2

ln
0.55
10.0259ln0.5
and
fabrication
e
I1

Two different circuit current Isc

Isc2

2
I2

50
W
m

Isc1
50 mA
2
100 W m
I1

EXAMPLE
A Si solar cell of area 4 cm2 is connected to drive a load R as in Figure
1 . Suppose that the load is 20 and it is used under a light intensity
of 1 kW m-2(Figure 1). What are the current and voltage in the circuit?
What is the power delivered to the load? What is the efficiency of the
solar cell in this circuit?
What is FF?

EXAMPLE
Figure 1

EXAMPLE
Figure 2

Series resistance and equivalent circuit

Practical devices can deviate substantially from the ideal pn

junction solar cell behavior due to a number of reasons
Consider an illuminated pn junction driving a load resistance RL
and assume that photogeneration takes place in the depletion
region
As illustrated in the next figure, the photogenerated electron
has to traverse a surface semiconductor region to reach the
nearest finger electrode
All these electron paths in the n-layer surface region to finger
electrodes introduce an effective series resistance Rs into the
photovotaic circuit as indicated in the figure
If the finger electrodes are thin, then the series resistance of
the electrodes themselves will further increase Rs
There is also a series resistance due to the neutral p-region but
this is generally small compared with the resistance of the

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

Neutral Depletion
n-region region

Finger
electrode

Neutral
p-region

Back
electrode

Rs

Rp

RL

Series and shunt resistances and various fates of photegenerated EHPs.

1999 S .O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

Rs

Iph

Id
Iph

Rp

RL

Solar cell

Load

The equivalent circuit of a solar cell

1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

EXAMPLE
Consider the equivalent circuit of a solar cell as shown in Figure below.
Show that;
V
eV
V
I I ph Id
I ph Io exp(
) Io
Rp
nkB T
Rp

[Hint: Kirchoffs current law]

EXAMPLE
Figure shows the equivalent circuit with the series resistance removed. The
currents flowing into node A sum to zero (Kirchoffs current law).
Currents into a node are positive and those leaving a node are negative.
Thus,

which is the required equation

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

0

Vo c
0.2

0.4

0.6

Rs = 50
5
Is c
Ip h

Rs = 0
Rs = 20

10
I (mA)

The series resistance broadens theI-V curve and reduces the maximum
available power and hence the overall efficiency of the solar cell. The example
is a Si solar cell with n 1.5 and Io 310-6 mA. Illumination is such that
the photocurrentIph = 10 mA.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

6

Power (mW)
4
2

Voltage (V)
0.2
0.4

0
5

0.6

1 cell

10
15

2 cells in parallel

20
Current (mA)

Current vs. Voltage and Power vs. Current characteristics of one cell and two
cells in parallel. The two parallel devices haveRs/2 and 2Iph.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

Rs

Iph

I/2

Id
Iph

I/2

I
RL

Rs
Id
Iph

Two identical solar cells in parallel under the same illumination and
driving a load RL.
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Series Resistance and equivalent circuit

Example
Consider two identical solar cells with the properties
Io = 2510-6 mA, n = 1.5, Rs = 20 W, subjected to the
same illumination so that Iph = 10 mA. Derive the
corresponding current , I and voltage V.

6.4
Open circuit voltage A solar cell under an illumination of 100 W m-2 has a short circuit current
Isc of 50 mA and an open circuit output voltage Voc, of 0.55V. What are the short circuit current and
open circuit voltages when the light intensity is halved?
Solution
The short circuit current is the photocurrent so that at
Isc2

I2

50 W m2

Isc1
50 mA
2 = 25 mA

I1
100 W m

Assuming n1, the new open circuit voltage is

Voc 2

nk BT
I
Voc1
ln 2 0.55 10.0259ln0.5 = 0.508 V
e
I1

Assuming n2, the new open circuit voltage is

Voc 2

nk BT
I
Voc1
ln 2 0.55 20.0259 ln0.5 = 0.467 V
e
I1

Temperature Effects
Temperature decreases Output voltage and efficiency increase.
Solar cell operate best at lower temperature.
The output voltage Voc, when Voc >> nkBT/e,

nk BT I ph

Voc
ln
e
I0
I0 is reverse saturation current and strongly depend on
temperature, because it depends on square of ni.
If I is light intensity,

KI
eVoc
nk BT KI
or

Voc
ln
ln
e
nk BT
I0
I0

Temperature Effects
Assuming n = 1, at two different temperatures T1 and T2 but the
same illumination level, by subtraction,

KI
KI
I 01
ni21
eVoc 2 eVoc1
- ln
ln ln 2

ln
k BT2
k BT1
I 02
I 01
I 02
ni 2

2
Substitute, ni Nc Nv exp Eg k BT
Thus,

eVoc 2 eVoc1 Eg 1 1

k BT2
k BT1
k B T2 T1

Rearrange for Voc2,

Voc 2

T2
Voc1
T1

Eg T2

1
e T1

Temperature Effects
Example, Si solar cell has Voc1 = 0.55 V at 20 oC (T1 = 293 K), at 60 oC
(T2 = 333 K),

Voc 2

333
333

(0.55 V)
(1.1 V)1
0.475 V
293
293

Solar Cells Materials, Devices and Efficiencies

For a given solar spectrum,
conversion efficiency depends on the
semiconductor material properties
and the device structure.
Si based solar cell efficiencies 18%
for polycrystalline and 22 24% for
single crystal devices.
About 25% solar energy is wasted
not enough energy unable to
generate EHPs.
Considering all losses, the maximum
electrical output power is ~20% for a
high efficiency Si solar cell.

100% Incident radiation

Insufficient photon energy

h < Eg

Excessive photon energy

Near surface EHP recombination
h > Eg

Collection efficiency of photons

Voc (0.6Eg)/(ekB)

FF0.85

Overall efficiency

21%

Accounting for various losses of energy in a high efficiency Si

solar cell. Adapted from C. Hu and R. M. White, Solar Cells