Photovoltaic Effect of Copper Photovoltaic Cells

Catibog, J.M.R., Mercado, A.R.T., See, A.J.G.

Department of Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials Engineering
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
joannemargareth@gmail.com, innamercs298@yahoo.com,jherxel_95@yahoo.com
AbstractSemiconductors are materials that are of
intermediate resistivity. They are used in numerous applications
including electricity production. An example of a semiconductor
system with this ability is the photovoltaic (PV) cell, which
utilizes the photovoltaic effect to convert solar to electrical
energy. The main objective of this experiment is to replicate the
photovoltaic effect on copper PV cells. Two cleaned and polished
copper sheets were used wherein one was heated for oxidation to
occur. The sheets were submerged in salt water. Set-ups of
different salt content were used to determine the effect of salt
solution on the amount of current produced. The clean copper
strip and the copper oxide-coated strip were used as the positive
and negative terminals, respectively.
Afterwards, current
readings of each cell when exposed to sunlight and artificial light
were obtained. The produced copper PV cells were able to
produce current. It was also found that the current increases
when salt concentration is increased while solar light produces
more current than artificial light.
Index Terms Semiconductors, Photovoltaic Cells, Photovoltaic
Effect, Copper PV cells

I. INTRODUCTION
Semiconductors are materials that are neither good
insulators nor good conductors.
Their resistivity is of
intermediate value at 10-3 to 106 -cm and highly dependent on
temperature [1]. They may either be intrinsic, in which
semiconductivity is inherent in the pure material, or extrinsic
wherein impurity atoms or dopants dictate the electrical
properties. Extrinsic semiconductors are further divided into
two: n-type and p-type, derived through introduction of excess
electrons or holes, respectively [2].
One of the earliest materials found to have semiconductor
properties is copper oxide. The discovery occurred even before
the emergence of silicon devices. Specifically, they show ptype conductivity [3].
When a single semiconductor crystal is doped with
acceptor-type impurities on one side and donor-type impurities,
p-n junction is formed. An illustration is shown in Figure 1.
Since a large amount of holes are present in the P-region, they
diffuse towards the N-region where density of holes is small.
Similarly, the electrons from the N-region diffuse towards the
N-region. Because of this, electric current flows from the Pregion to the N-region across the junction despite the absence
of an initial electric field [4]. At thermal equilibrium, a
depletion region is formed when diffusion of the charge

Catibog, J.M.R., Mercado, A.R.T., See, A.J.G.. (2016)

carriers stop. A wall separating the two regions is formed

wherein electrons are immobile at the P-side and holes are
immobile at the N-side [5].

Fig. 1. P-n junction

(Godse, Atul P., Uday A. Bakshi, and Ajay V. Bakshi. Electron
Devices.)

P-n juctions may be used to harvest energy. One way to do

this is through a thermoelectric generator wherein temperature
gradient is converted into electrical energy [6]. A more widely
used device is the photovoltaic cell. It utilizes the photovoltaic
effect wherein solar energy is converted to electricity. When
the depletion region is formed as shown in Figure 1, light
absorption in either p or n regions cause generation of charge
carriers. The excess holes formed at the junction are able to
lower their energy by moving from the N-region to the Pregion while excess electrons move the opposite way. The
potential difference at the junction causes an electric current,
which can be used to produce electricity [7].
Photovoltaic systems are currently used as source of energy
not only in commercial set-ups but also for space applications
and marine time navigation and in telecommunications. They
are also used for cathodic protection wherein the externallyapplied counteracting current makes a metal cathodic, and
therefore corrosion-resistant [8].
The main objective of this experiment is to create a
photovoltaic cell and replicate the photovoltaic effect using
copper oxide submerged in salt solution. It also aims to
differentiate the effect of the salt concentration as well as the
type of light used on the amount of current produced of the
photovoltaic cell.

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II. METHODOLOGY

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From a copper sheet, copper strips were obtained. The said

strips were then cleaned, first with soap to remove all dirt and
were further cleaned using sandpaper with 180 grit size to get
rid of possible traces of corrosion. The copper strips were
ensured to be clean since any trace of dirt or corrosion might
affect the properties of the strip, moreover, it might cause side
reactions in the later part of the study.
After cleaning, one strip was heated using a hot plate at its
highest setting, while the other strip was set aside. The strip on
the hot plate was allowed to heat up until a thick black coating
was formed at its surface. Once the strip was covered with the
said coating, the hot plate was turned off and the heated
copper strip was slowly cooled. Black coatings from the
surface of copper strip were scraped off; this procedure was
done carefully to avoid damaging the oxide layer formed at
the surface.

The artificial photovoltaic cells (copper sheets) were

submerged in the salt solution and were exposed to both
artificial and solar light. The table below shows the current
readings of the same copper sheet in different salt solution
concentrations. It can be observed that as the concentration of
salt solution increases, the recorded current also increases.
Furthermore, comparing the current recoded under the natural
light and the artificial light, it can be observed that the current
induced by the photovoltaic cell under the sunlight is
significantly larger than that of the artificial light by around
5%.
TABLE I. CURRENT READING IN ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL LIGHT
FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS UNDER DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF
SALT SOLUTION

Salt
(g)

Water(L)

Salt
(mol)

Concentration
(M)

Artificial
Light
(A)

Sunlight
(A)

0.01

0.085558

8.55578371

56.4

608

10

0.01

0.171116

17.11156742

132.5

686

15

0.01

0.256674

25.66735113

146.9

700

20

0.01

0.342231

34.22313484

165.7

754

25

0.01

0.427789

42.77891855

204

789

30

0.01

0.513347

51.33470226

275

790

Fig. 2. Copper Strip Oxidation Setup

The copper strips were then placed together in a 250mL
beaker; it was made sure that the strips will not touch together.
Afterwards, desired concentration of saltwater was prepared by
adding 10 mL water and varying amounts of salt. Saltwater
was then poured in the beaker together with the copper strips.
The purpose of saltwater addition is that it acted as the bridge
or connection between the two copper strips that will later on
act as cathode and anode. Clean copper strip was connected to
the positive terminal of meter via alligator clips while the
copper-oxide strip was connected to the negative terminal.
Afterwards, an artificial light was radiated to the assembled
photovoltaic cell and reading from the meter was recorded.
Then, the cell was placed outdoors facing the sun (solar light),
meter was also obtained. All obtained data were tabulated, and
were then analyzed-determining the relationships of the
different parameters, such as: which parameters affect the
amount of current.

Based on the table above, it can also be concluded that the

copper sheets used as solar cells can still emit an ample
amount of current even under an artificial light (incandescent
and fluorescent lamp). Sunlights and incandescent lamps
spectrum do not differ much since they are both categorized to
have continuous spectrum as shown in the figures below,
though the light emitted by the sun is much brighter in color
compared to that of the incandescent lamp. The amount of
current generated by the solar cell is affected by the intensity
and wavelength of the light it was exposed to, thus the
recorded current for the solar cells under sunlight are higher
than that of the artificial light since sunlight has higher
intensity than any artificial light because of the presence of
UV and gamma rays. [9]

Fig. 3. Incandescent VS Sunlight Spectrum

(http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107Lab/Exp7/Spectroscope/
Spectroscope.html)

Fig. 1. Assembled Photovoltaic Cell (Artificial Light)

Catibog, J.M.R., Mercado, A.R.T., See, A.J.G.. (2016)

The current and voltage reading depends on the light

absorbed and the surface condition of the photovoltaic cell.

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More accurate higher readings will be obtained if the solar

cells are exposed to direct light without any shade or
hindrance. There is also a need for a clean surface for the light
to interact with the cell. Accumulation of contaminants on the
surface of the cell will extremely affect its efficiency. [10]
Photovoltaic cells can be characterized as thin-film or
crystalline type. Thin-films are less expensive compared to the
bulk/crystalline type. On the other hand, though crystallinetype photovoltaic cells are costly than the thin-film ones, they
are most efficient in converting renewable energy. The table
below summarizes in detail the advantages and disadvantages
of each type of photovoltaic cells. [11]
TABLE II. CRYSTALLINE AND THIN-FILM SOLAR CELLS

(http://www.ni.com/white-paper/7229/en/)
IV. CONCLUSION
Artificial photovoltaic cell made from copper strip, oxidized
copper strip and saltwater solution were able to produce
current. Furthermore, relationships among the parameters were
established wherein, it is observed that increasing the salt
solution also increases the current produced. Add to that,

Catibog, J.M.R., Mercado, A.R.T., See, A.J.G.. (2016)

comparing the two light sources, solar light produces more

current as compared to artificial light.
V. REFERENCES
[1] Balkanski, Minko, and R. F. Wallis. Semiconductor
Physics and Applications. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2000.
[2] Callister, William D. Materials Science and Engineering:
An Introduction. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
[3] Barquinha, Pedro. Transparent Oxide Electronics: From
Materials to Devices. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley,
2012.
[4] Achuthan, M. K., and K. N. Bhat. Fundamentals of
Semiconductor Devices. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill,
2007.
[5] Godse, Atul P., Uday A. Bakshi, and Ajay V. Bakshi.
Electron Devices. Pune, India: Technical Publications
Pune, 2007.
[6] Sazonov, Edward, and Michael R. Neuman. Wearable
Sensors:
Fundamentals,
Implementation
and
Applications.
[7] Besanon, Robert M. The Encyclopedia of Physics. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1974.
[8] Wenham, S. R. Applied Photovoltaics. London:
Earthscan, 2007.
[9] Knier, Gil. "How Do Photovoltaics Work?" - NASA
Science. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
[10] "6
Ways
to
Improve
Solar
Cell
Efficiency." DoItYourself.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
[11] "Part I Photovoltaic Cell Overview." - National
Instruments. 4 Dec. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

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