PV Cells Technologies

• Characterization criterion:
• Thickness:
• Conventional – thick cells (200 - 500 μm)
• Thin film (1 – 10 μm). Tend to be less costly than conventional
(think) cells but they also tend to be less reliable and efficient.

• Crystalline configuration:
• Single crystal
• Multicrystalline: cell formed by 1mm to 10cm single crystal areas.
• Polycrystalline: cell formed by 1μm to 1mm single crystal areas.
• Microcrystalline: cell formed by areas of less than 1μm across.
• Amorphous: No single crystal areas.

• p and n region materials:

• Same material: homojunction (Si)
• Different material: heterojunction (CdS and CuInSe2)

1 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cells Technologies
Uni-Solar solar shingle

BP SX170B Polycrystalline BP SX170B Monocrystalline

Uni-Solar Laminate PVL-136

Amorphous

Mitsubishi PV-TD 190MF5

Multicrystalline
PV Modules at ENS

2 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cells Technologies

• Thick film fabrication techniques:

• Czochraski’s (CZ): for single-crystal silicon. Costly.
• Float zone process (FZ): also for single-crystal silicon. Costly
• Ribbon silicon
• Cast silicon: for multicrystalline cells. Less costly.

• Thin film
• Can be used embedded in semitransparent windows.
• Techniques:
• Amorphous Silicon: can achieve higher efficiencies (in the order of 42%
thanks to the multijunction (different multiple layers) in which each layer absorb
photons with different energy.
• Gallium Arsenide (GaAs): relatively high theoretical efficiency (29 %) which is
not significantly affected by temperature. Less sensitive to radiation. Gallium
makes this solution relatively expensive.
• Gallium Indium Phosphide (GaInP): similar to GaAs.
• Cadmium Telluride (CdTe): Issue: Cd is a health hazard (it is very toxic).
• Copper Indium Diselenide (CIS or CuInSe2): relatively good efficiency)
• Silicon Nitrade (N4Si3)

3 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 The p-n junction diode

n-type substrate
 qV d

Bias voltage I d  I 0  e  1
kT

p-type substrate  
Id

• Vd is the diode voltage

• I0 is the reverse saturation current caused by Ideal diode
thermally generated carriers
Real diode
• At 25 C:

 0.026
Vd
 I0
Id  I0  e  1
 

4 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cells physics

The current source

shifts the reversed
diode curve upwards
ISC

VOC

Same curve

The bias source

p-n junction is
(voltage source)
ISC equivalent to
is replaced by a
a diode
current source Reverse v-i
powered by the curve for the
photons diode

5 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cell steady state characteristic

• From Kirchoff’s current law:

 qVkTd 
I PV  I SC  I d  I SC  I 0  e  1
 
• The open circuit voltage is
Maximum power point
kT  I SC 
VOC  V ( I PV  0)  ln   1
q  I0  Power
P  I PVVPV
Pmax  0.7 • Voc • Isc
Current

6 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cell steady state characteristic

• Dependence on temperature and insolation:

7 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 PV Cell steady state characteristic

• More on the dependence on temperature and insolation:

8 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 More complex steady-state models
• For a more realistic representation we can consider the following (equivalent
to a diode’s model):
• 1) Effect current leakage
1
slope 
Rp
V
I PV  ( I SC  I d ) 
ISC Rp Rp

• 2) Effect of internal ohmic resistance

+ +  qVkTd 
RS I PV  I SC  I 0  e  1
V  IRS
 
ISC Vd V where
Vd = V+IRS
- - This is a transcendental
equation
9 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012
 PV more complex steady-state model
• Both effects can be combined to obtain the more realistic (and complex)
steady state model:

+ +
RS
ISC Rp Vd V

- -

 qVkTd  Vd
I PV  I SC  I 0  e  1 
  Rp
where
Vd = V+IRS
This is a transcendental
equation

10 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 Dynamic effects

Capacitive effect

• As with any diode, there is an associated capacitance. However, this

capacitance is relatively small, so the effects on the output can often be
neglected. Therefore, PV modules can follow a rapidly changing load very well.

•One undesirable effect of the capacitance is that it makes PV cells more

susceptible to indirect atmospheric discharges.

11 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 Modules combination
• PV cells are combined to form modules (panels). Modules may be combined
to form arrays.

More modules (or cells)

in series

More modules (or cells)

in parallel
• When modules are connected in
parallel, the array voltage is that of the
module with the lowest voltage.
•When several modules are connected
in series to achieve a higher array
voltage, the array’s current equals that of
the module delivering the lowest current.
12 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012
 Shading

- • A shadowed module
(Rp+Rs)(n-1)Imodule
degrades the performance of
the entire array
+
+
One module with 50%
shadow
One module with 100%
(n-1)Vmodule shadow

Two modules with 100%

shadow

13 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012

 Bypass diode for shadowing mitigation
• Bypass diodes can mitigate the effects of shadows but they don’t solve the
issue completely.
• A better solution will be presented when discussing power electronics
interfaces.

No shade

Shaded without Shaded with

bypass diode bypass diode

14 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012