SOLAR

PHOTOVOLTAICS
Introduction
• Solar
PV system converts solar energy directly into electrical
energy
• Solar
photovoltaic cell (solar cell) made of silicon is the basic
conversion device
• Solar cell is the most expensive unit of a solar PV system
• Cell efficiency is 10-20%
• Life span 20-25 years
•A solar cell of 100 cm2 area produces 2 A of current
• Voltage: 0.5- 1 V
• Current density: 20-40 mA/cm2

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Introduction
• Advantages

• Direct conversion, no moving parts

• Reliable, modular, durable, and maintenance free
• Quiet, quick response to radiation, high lifespan
• Universally available, no distribution network needed

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Introduction
• Disadvantages

• Cost

• Low efficiency
• Large area of solar cells are required due to low
density of solar radiation
• Storage unit is required due to intermittent nature of
solar energy

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Energy Conversion Principle
 When solar radiation falls on solar cells, it is
converted into dc electricity
 Steps involved in the principle of working of solar
cell
• Creation of electron- hole pair in the cell due to
absorption of radiation
• Separation of electron-hole pair by a potential
gradient within the cell

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Solar Cell Basics
• Electron-hole pairs can be produced by imparting energy
(thermal energy or light/photons)

• Energy associated with photons of solar radiation

𝐸 = ℎ𝑐/𝜆

• Materials suitable for absorbing energy of photons: Silicon,

Cadmium sulphide, Gallium arsenide

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Principle of Working
• Electrons occupy valance band (lower energy level) or
conduction band (higher energy level)

• Band gap energy (Eg): Difference between energy levels of

the electrons in the two bands

• When E>Eg, electrons absorb energy and jump across the

band gap to conduction band

• Electron-hole pairs are created

• These mobile charge carriers can be made to flow through

an external circuit if a potential gradient exists within cell
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Principle of Working
• Potential gradient is obtained by making the cell with p-
type (doped with boron) and n-type (doped with
phosphorus) silicon

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Principle of Working
• Energy levels of valance and conduction bands of p type are
slightly higher than corresponding levels in n type silicon

• In a composite type of p and n type silicon, jump in energy

levels occur at junction interface

• Since the field is directed from n to p side, it will cause

holes to be swept towards the p side and electrons to be
swept towards n side

• The potential gradient cause a dc current to flow in

external circuit
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Principle of Working
• If a load is connected across the terminals, the photon

generated current will flow through this external circuit

• This current is proportional to the number of electron-hole

pairs generated, which depends on intensity of illumination

• Thus, an illuminated pn junction becomes a photovoltaic

cell with a positive terminal on p side

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Solar Cell Characteristics
𝑉
• Dark: 𝐼 = 𝐼𝑂 (𝑒 −1)
𝑉𝑇

VT= 26 mV (at 20oC), voltage equivalent of temperature

𝑉
• Illuminated: 𝐼 = −𝐼𝑠𝑐 + 𝐼𝑂 (𝑒 −1)
𝑉𝑇

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Solar Cell Characteristics
• When junction is short circuited at its terminals,
V=0; I= -Isc

Isc is the short circuit current

• When a voltage source is connected with +ve on p side,

• As V increases, I decreases

• When I=0, V=Voc

• Voc is the open circuit voltage

𝐼𝑆𝐶
𝑉𝑂𝐶 = 𝑉𝑇 ln{( ) + 1}
𝐼𝑂
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Solar Cell Characteristics
• An illuminated pn junction can be considered as an energy
source with open circuit voltage Voc and short circuit
current Isc

• Current coming out of +ve terminal is considered as +ve for

an energy source
With variation in solar irradiance
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𝑉
7

6
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑠𝑐 − 𝐼𝑂 (𝑒 −1)
𝑉𝑇

5
ipv

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Vpv
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Solar Cell Characteristics
• It is desirable to operate the solar cell to produce maximum
power to obtain as much energy as possible

• Maximum power (Pm) point can be obtained by plotting

V.I=constant (hyperbola) such that it is tangential to I-V
characteristic of the cell

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Solar Cell Characteristics
• cell power v/s cell voltage

W ith variation in solar irradiance

5000

4500

4000

3500

3000
Ppv

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
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Vpv
Solar Cell Characteristics

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Solar Cell Characteristics
• An ideal cell will have a perfect rectangular characteristic

• Fill factor FF is a measure of quality of a cell

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Solar Cell Characteristics
• FF is the ratio of peak power to the product of open-circuit
voltage and short-circuit current

𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚
𝐹𝐹 =
𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝐼𝑠𝑐

• FF=1 for an ideal cell

• Typical value= 0.5-0.83

• Conversion efficiency,
𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚 𝐹𝐹.𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝐼𝑠𝑐
𝜂= =
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

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Energy Losses and Efficiency
electrical power output
• Conversion efficiency= Earlier around 24%,
incident solar power
now 40% reported

• Loss mechanisms in PV
Due to the inherent nature of internal physical processes and available
input
Inherent material properties
Some losses an be influenced by external means- processing technology,
selection of material etc

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Energy Losses and Efficiency
• Low energy photons ( silicon band gap energy 1.1eV)

• Energy loss due to minority carriers

• Reflection from surface

• Antireflective coating minimizes surface reflections

•A reflective back rear contact may be provided to enhance

photon absorption

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Equivalent Circuit
• Ideal

• Internal series resistance is zero

• Shunt resistance is infinite

𝑉
{𝑉 }
• 𝐼𝑑 = 𝐼0 [𝑒 𝑇 − 1]

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Equivalent Circuit
• Practical

• Finite values for internal

series resistance and shunt
resistance

• Isc not equal to the light

generated current IL

• Internal voltage drop of

I.Rs in the terminal voltage

• Rs= 0.05-0.10 Ω

• Rsh= 200-300 Ω
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Equivalent Circuit
𝑉+𝐼𝑅𝑠 𝑉 + 𝐼𝑅𝑠
{ }
𝐼 = 𝐼𝐿 − 𝐼0 [𝑒 𝑇 𝑉 − 1] − ( )
𝑅𝑠ℎ

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Maximizing Performance
• Maximize shunt resistance
• Passivating the surface of the cell to ensure there is no leakage
current

• Reduction of series resistance

• High doping of semiconductor

• High doping decrease depletion layer width, which in turn

decrease photocurrent

• Level of doping is such that optimum performance is obtained

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Solar Cell Classification
Thickness of active Type of junction Type of active material
material structure used for fabrication

• Single crystal silicon

• Bulk material • pn homojunction solar cell
• pn heterojunction • Multi-crystalline
cell • pn multi-junction silicon solar cell
• Thin film cell • Metal • Amorphous silicon
semiconductor solar cell
junction • Gallium arsenide
• p-i-n • Copper indium
semiconductor diselenide (CIS)
junction • Cadmium telluride
• Organic PV cell 25
Solar Cell Classification
Based on thickness of material
• Bulk material cell(Thick film cell): Base material (starting
material in fabrication process) is an active material
• Production as batches
• Thin film cell: A thin film deposition of active material is carried
out on back support sheet (substrate)
• Advantages

• Low active material consumption

• Possibility of continuous sequence of production process
• Disadvantages

• Difficult for large cell area

• Degradation in performance when exposed to outdoor radiation
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Solar Cell Classification
Based on type of junction structure
• P-n homojunction cell
• Semiconductor material on both sides of junction are same, only doping
materials are different.
• P-n heterojunction cell
• Dissimilar
materials with closely matching crystal lattice used to form
junction. Such as group III-V or group II-IV
• P-n multijunction cell
• Junctions of different band gaps stacked together
• Metal semiconductor (schottky) junction
• Contact formed may be ohmic or rectifying type depending on work
function
• Rectifying contact is known as schottky

• p-i-n semiconductor junction

• Intrinsic semiconductor is interposed between n and p layers
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Solar Cell Classification
Based on type of active material used in fabrication

Mono Crystalline Multi Crystalline Amorphous

Solid atoms making The solid is There is no periodic
up the crystal are composed of small structure of atoms at
arranged in a regions of single all – No crystal
periodic fashion crystal material properties

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 Mono Crystalline Silicon

• SiO2 – Most abundant material on earth’s

crust
• FromSilica, Si is extracted & purified to
form MG- Si (99% pure)
• MG –Si further purified to semiconductor
grade silicon
• Converted to Mono crystalline ingot – p Metallurgical Grade(MG) Silicon
type (Cylindrical block of about 6 to 15 cm
dia)
• Highly energy intensive process
• Unit
consumption of silicon to produce
one unit of PV electricity is high

Mono Crystalline Ingot 29

Mono Crystalline Si Solar Cell
• Most efficient & expensive Si solar cell
• Mono Crystalline ingots are sliced into
wafers of ~ 300μm thickness
• Wafers are converted to solar cells by
a) Diffusion of n type dopants
b) Surface texturing Monocrystalline Si Solar Cell
c) ARC(Anti reflecting coating) (Pseudo square shape)

d) Contact grid on top and base contact

on back side

Monocrystalline Solar PV Module

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 Multi Crystalline Si Solar Cell
• Less
efficient than Mono Crystalline & less
expensive
• Rectangularmulti crystalline blocks are made
which are cut into bricks
• Bricks sliced into square wafers
• Lessenergy intensive in production and less
costly compared to single crystal silicon cell Multicrystalline Si Solar Cell
(square shape)

Multi Crystalline Solar PV Module

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Multi Crystalline Brick

 Amorphous Si Solar Cell
• Less
efficient than Multicrystalline & less
expensive
• Thickness of 1 to 2 um
• Less material is required
• Amorphous layers deposited on cheap substrates
like glass & plastic
• Flexible solar cells possible Amorphous Silicon PV Cell
• Degrades faster than crystalline Si solar cells
• Ideal
for pocket calculators, watches, low
power hand held electronic equipment

Amorphous Silicon PV Module

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Solar Cell Classification
Based on type of active material used in fabrication

• Gallium arsenide cell

• High performance extra terrestrial quality cells
• Direct band gap of 1.43eV
• High efficiency
• Expensive
• Efficiency more than 20%

• Copper indium diselenide cell

• Band gap of 1 ev
• Inexpensive preparation
• More stable as compared to Si cell in outdoor application
• Exposure to higher temperature reduces efficiency
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Solar Cell Classification
Based on type of active material used in fabrication

• Cadmium telluride cell

• Transparent conducting oxide layer used instead of metal contact at the top on
n side
• Band gap 1.5ev

• Stable during outdoor application

• Efficiency about 10%

• Organic PV cell
• Fabricated out of carbon based dyes and polymers

• Can be bend without breaking

• Very light and cheap, but efficiency is very low

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 Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
I- V characteristics keep changing with insolation and temperature

MPPT techniques are used to find the operating point of the PV array under a
given temperature and irradiance, to obtain the maximum power output PMPP

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Maximising the solar PV output
• Mechanical
sun tracking – Orients the PV module towards the
sun mechanically
• Electrical
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) (load
matching)- Adjusts the PV module output current & voltage
to maximise the electrical output power for a given
irradiance

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 Electrical Maximum Power Point
Tracking
• I-Vcurve changes with
irradiation
Fixed resistance
• InMPPT, the load is load line
electrically adjusted to
operate at the solar module
at Pmax always

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Solar PV system with MPPT
controller

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 MPPT – Possible strategies
1. By fixing output voltage as a fraction of Voc
• Open circuit voltage of the module is measured and output
voltage is maintained at a fraction of Voc
• Eg. Fractional open circuit voltage algorithm

2. By monitoring the power output

• Output voltage increased as long as dP/dV is +ve
• When dP/dV becomes –ve, operating voltage is decreased
• Algorithm converges at max. power point, where, dP/dV =0
• Eg. Perturb and Observe algorithm

3. By monitoring dynamic impedance (Zd) and static

impedance (Zs)
• Operating voltage is continuously adjusted and Zd and Zs is
measured
• Algorithm stops at max. power point, Zd= -Zs
• Eg. Incremental conductance algorithm

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MPPT METHODS
1) Fractional Open Circuit Voltage
• Vmp is usually a constant fraction of the Voc
• Voc of the panel is determined by the controller
• PVoutput voltage is controlled to maintain at a fraction of
the Voc (Usually fraction constant =0.72)

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 MPPT METHODS
2) Perturb & Observe
• Controller
adjusts(perturbs) the PV voltage by a small amount and
measures(observes) the output power
• If
the power is increasing with increasing voltage, perturbation in
the same direction is continued
• If
the power change becomes negative (with increasing voltage), it
indicates the maximum power point is in the opposite direction
• So, voltage is perturbed in the opposite direction

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 MPPT METHODS
3) Incremental Conductance

• At MPP, dP/dV = 0
• Therefore, at MPP, incremental conductance, dI/dV = -
I/V= negative of instantaneous conductance. Controller
adjusts voltage and current till this point is reached

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Design a standalone SPV system to operate 2
CFLs(18W each) and two fans (60 W each) for 6
hrs/day
• Assume std. battery rating = 12 V/ 120 Ah
• Solar module rating = 40 W/12V
• Inverters available in 100 VA, 200 VA, 300 VA etc.

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Steps involved
1. Energy estimation
2. PV panels estimation
3. Battery Bank estimation
4. Inverter size estimation

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Assumptions
• Battery efficiency, ηB = 90% = 0.9
• Inverter efficiency, ηinv = 90% = 0.9
• Battery Depth of Discharge, DOD = 80% = 0.8
• Operating Factor = Actual output power from a panel during
operation/ Rated output of the panel = 0.75
(i.e a 100W panel may produce only 75W during normal
operation)

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1. Energy estimation
• Energy required/ day
= 6 X 2 X 18 + 6 X 2 X 60 = 936 Wh

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2. PV panels estimation
• Actual power output from a 40 W panel = 0.75 X 40 = 30 W
ηB ηinv

• Power available for end use = 30 X 0.9 X 0.9 = 24.3W

• Energy from one 40 W panel for end use/day
=24. 3 W X 8 hrs (peak equivalent) = 194.4 Wh

• Panels required = 936 Wh /194.4 Wh= 4.81 ~ 5

• If DC system voltage is 12 V, 5 panels in parallel reqd.

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3. Battery Bank estimation
• Total Ah reqd. for end use = 936 /12 = 78 Ah
• Total Ah reqd. at battery o/p = 78/0.9 = 86.7Ah
ηinv
• Total Ah that can be stored = 86. 7/0.8 = 108.4 Ah
DOD
• Battery required = 1 no. ( of 12V, 120 Ah)

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4. Inverter size estimation
• Total connected load = 2 X 18 + 2 X 60 = 156 W

• So, Inverter rating = 200 VA

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