Micro Project on photovoltaic cell Report

MICRO-PROJECT
REPORT
ON

“ photovoltaic cells
”

SUBMITTED BY,

Landge Mukteshwar Somnath (ENR. NO.1810950066)

[For Partial Fulfillment of Award of Diploma Program in

Mechanical Engineering from M.S.B.T.E. Mumbai.]
Under The Guidance of

Prof. Birajdar S.S

Shri Vishweshwar Shikshan Prasarak Mandal’s

Vishweshwarayya Abhiyantriki Padvika Mahavidyalaya
Dilip Nagar, Almala Tq. Ausa Dist. Latur - 413556 (M.S.) Approved
AICTE New Delhi, Affiliated to MSBTE Mumbai.
(DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)
A.Y. 2019-2020
 Shri Vishweshwar Shikshan Prasarak Mandal’s
Vishweshwarayya Abhiyantriki Padvika Mahavidyalaya
Dilip Nagar, Almala Tq. Ausa Dist. Latur - 413556 (M.S.) Approved
AICTE New Delhi, Affiliated to MSBTE Mumbai.

This is to certify that Landge Mukteshwar

Somnath (E.N. – 1810950066 ) from Third year

MECHANICAL (I- scheme) of this institute have

successfully completed & submitted A Micro - Project

Report on “PHOTOVOLTIC CELL”

for the Subject PER partial fulfillment of

Award of diploma Program in Mechanical Engineering

from M.S.B.T.E. Mumbai in A.Y. 2019-2020.

(Prof. Birajdar S.S) (Prof. Bidve M.A.)

Guide H.O.D.

(Prof. Dharashive P. S.)

PRINCIPAL
 Micro Project on photovoltaic cellsReport

CONTANT
SR NO TITLE PAGE NO
1 photovoltaic cells 4

2 Monocrystalline silicon PV 6

3 Polycrystalline silicon PV 8
panels

4 Thick-film silicon PV panels 9

5 thin film PV panels 11

6 Amorphous silicon: 12

7 13
Multi-junction solar cell

Organic solar cell

8 14

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photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit
the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry
Photovoltaic cells or PV cells can be manufactured in many different ways and from a variety of
different materials. Despite this difference, they all perform the same task of harvesting solar energy and
converting it to useful electricity. The most common material for solar panel construction is silicon which
has semiconducting properties. Several of these solar cells are required to construct a solar panel and
many panels make up a photovoltaic array.

A conventional crystalline silicon solar cell (as of 2005). Electrical contacts made from busbars (the larger silver-colored
strips) and fingers (the smaller ones) are printed on the silicon wafer.

Symbol of a Photovoltaic cell.

There are three types of PV cell technologies that dominate the world market: monocrystalline
silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and thin film. Higher efficiency PV technologies, including
gallium arsenide and multi-junction cells, are less common due to their high cost, but are ideal
for use in concentrated photovoltaic systems and space applications.[3] There is also an

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assortment of emerging PV cell technologies which include Perovskite cells, organic solar cells,
dye-sensitized solar cells and quantum dots.
Application

From a solar cell to a PV system. Diagram of the possible components of a photovoltaic system
Assemblies of solar cells are used to make solar modules that generate electrical power from sunlight, as
distinguished from a "solar thermal module" or "solar hot water panel". A solar array generates solar
power using solar energy.

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Monocrystalline silicon PV

These are made using cells sliced from a single cylindrical crystal of silicon. This is
the most efficient photovoltaic technology, typically converting around 15% of the
sun's energy into electricity. The manufacturing process required to produce
monocrystalline silicon is complicated, resulting in slightly higher costs than other
technologies. .
TheThe first commercially available solar cells were made from monocrystalline silicon, which
is an extremely pure form of silicon. To produce these, a seed crystal is pulled out of a mass of
molten silicon creating a cylindrical ingot with a single, continuous, crystal lattice structure. This
crystal is then mechanically sawn into thin wafers, polished and doped to create the required p-n
junction. After an anti-reflective coating and the front and rear metal contacts are added, the cell
is finally wired and packaged alongside many other cells into a full solar
panel.[3] Monocrystalline silicon cells are highly efficient, but their manufacturing process is
slow and labour intensive, making them more expensive than their polycrystalline or thin s.

Monocrystalline silicon, more often called single-crystal silicon, in short mono c-

Si or mono-Si, is the base material for silicon-based discrete components and integrated circuits used in
virtually all modern electronic equipment. Mono-Si also serves as a photovoltaic, light-absorbing material
in the manufacture of solar cells.

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Polycrystalline silicon PV panels

Also sometimes known as multicrystalline cells, polycrystalline silicon cells are made
from cells cut from an ingot of melted and recrystallised silicon. The ingots are then
saw-cut into very thin wafers and assembled into complete cells. They are generally
cheaper to produce than monocrystalline cells, due to the simpler manufacturing
process, but they tend to be slightly less efficient, with average efficiencies of around
12% .InsteadInsteadInsteadInstead of a single uniform crystal structure, polycrystalline (or
multicrystalline) cells contain many small grains of crystals They can be made by simply casting
a cube-shaped ingot from molten silicon, then sawn and packaged similar to monocrystalline
cells. Another method known as edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) involves drawing a thin
ribbon of polycrystalline silicon from a mass of molten silicon. A cheaper but less efficient
alternative, polycrystalline silicon PV cells dominate the world market, representing about 70%
of global PV production in 2015

Polycrystalline silicon, or multicrystalline silicon,called polysilicon or poly-Si, is

a high purity, polycrystalline form of silicon,
Polysilicon is produced from metallurgical grade silicon by a chemical
purification process, called the Siemens process. An emerging, alternative process of refinement
uses a fluidized bed reactor. The photovoltaic industry also produces upgraded metallurgical-
grade silicon (UMG-Si), using metallurgical instead of chemical purification processes

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Thick-film silicon PV panels

This is a variant on multicrystalline technology where silicon

is deposited in a continuous process onto a base material giving a fine grained,
sparkling appearance. Like all crystalline PV, it is normally encapsulated in a
transparent insulating polymer with a tempered glass cover and then bound into a
metal framed module.

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thin film PV panels

A number of other materials such as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and

copper indium diselenide (CIS) are now being used for PV modules. The attraction of
these technologies is that they can be manufactured by relatively inexpensive
industrial processes, certainly in comparison to crystalline silicon technologies, yet
they typically offer higher module efficiencies than amorphous silicon. Most offer a
slightly lower efficiency: CIS is typically 10-13% efficient and CdTe around 8 or 9%.
A disadvantage is the use of highly toxic metals such as Cadmium and the need for
both carefully controlled manufacturing and end-of-life disposal; although a typical
CdTe module contains only 0.1% Cadmium, which is reported to be lower than is
found in a single AA-sized NiCad battery.

This information is for guidance only and should not be used in place of proper
engineering calculations in accordance with the relevant British or European
Standards.

This information is based on work undertaken by the EurActive Roofer project which
ran from 2005 to 2008 and was supported by the European Union's programme for
Horizontal Actions involving SMEs.

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Although crystalline PV cells dominate the market, cells can also be made from
thin films—making them much more flexible and durable. One type of thin film PV cell
is amorphous silicon (a-Si) which is produced by depositing thin layers of silicon on to a glass
substrate. The result is a very thin and flexible cell which uses less than 1% of the silicon needed
for a crystalline cell. Due to this reduction in raw material and a less energy intensive
manufacturing process, amorphous silicon cells are much cheaper to produce. Their efficiency,
however, is greatly reduced because the silicon atoms are much less ordered than in their
crystalline forms leaving 'dangling bonds' that combine with other elements making them
electrically inactive. These cells also suffer from a 20% drop in efficiency within the first few
months of operation before stabilizing, and are therefore sold with power ratings based on their
degraded output.

Other types of thin film cells include copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) and cadmium
telluride (CdTe). These cell technologies offer higher efficiencies than amorphous silicon, but
contain rare and toxic elements including cadmium which requires extra precautions during
manufacture and eventual recycling.

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Amorphous silicon PV panels

 Amorphous silicon cells are made by depositing silicon in a thin homogenous

layer onto a substrate rather than creating a rigid crystal structure. As
amorphous silicon absorbs light more effectively than crystalline silicon, the
cells can be thinner - hence its alternative name of 'thin film' PV. Amorphous
silicon can be deposited on a wide range of substrates, both rigid and flexible,
which makes it ideal for curved surfaces or bonding directly onto roofing
materials. This technology is, however, less efficient than crystalline silicon,
with typical efficiencies of around 6%, but it tends to be easier and cheaper to
produce. If roof space is not restricted, an amorphous product can be a good
option. However, if the maximum output per square metre is required,
specifiers should choose a crystalline technology

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Multi-junction solar cell

The majority of PV cells, including those discussed above, contain only one p-n
junction of semiconductor material which converts energy from one discreet portion of the solar
spectrum into useful electricity. Multi-junction cells have 2 or more junctions layered on top of
each other, allowing energy to be collected from multiple portions of the spectrum. Light that is
not absorbed by the first layer will travel through and interact with subsequent layers. Multi-
junction cells are produced in the same way as gallium arsenide cells—slowly depositing layers
of material onto a single crystal base, making them very expensive to produce, and only
commercially viable in concentrated PV systems and space applications.

Black light test of Dawn's triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells[1]

Multi-junction (MJ) solar cells are solar cellswith multiple p–n junctions made of different semiconductor
materials. Each material's p-n junction will produce electric current in response to different wavelengths
of light. The use of multiple semiconducting materialsallows the absorbance of a broader range of
wavelengths, improving the cell's sunlight to electrical energy conversion efficiency.
Traditional single-junction cells have a maximum theoretical efficiency of 33.16%.[2]Theoretically, an
infinite number of junctions would have a limiting efficiency of 86.8% under highly concentrated
sunlight.[3]
Currently, the best lab examples of traditional crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have efficiencies
between 20% and 25%,[4] while lab examples of multi-junction cells have demonstrated .

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Organic solar cell

Fig. 1. Schematic of plastic solar cells. PET – polyethylene terephthalate, ITO – indium tin oxide, PEDOT:PSS –
poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), active layer (usually a polymer:fullerene blend), Al – aluminium.
An organic solar cell (OSC[1]) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic
electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic
molecules,[2] for light absorption and charge transport to produce electricity from sunlight by
the photovoltaic effect. Most organic photovoltaic cells are polymer solar cells.

Organic Photovoltaic manufactured by the company Solarmer.

The molecules used in organic solar cells are solution-processable at high throughput and are
cheap, resulting in low production costs to fabricate a large volume.[3] Combined with the
flexibility of organic molecules, organic solar cells are potentially cost-effective for photovoltaic
applications. Molecular engineering (e.g. changing the length and functional group of polymers)
can change the band gap, allowing for electronic tunability. The optical absorption coefficient of
organic molecules is high, so a large amount of light can be absorbed with a small amount of
materials, usually on the order of hundreds of nanometers. The main disadvantages associated
with organic photovoltaic cells are low efficiency, low stability and low strength compared to
inorganic photovoltaic cells such as silicon solar cells.
Compared to silicon-based devices, polymer solar cells are lightweight (which is important for
small autonomous sensors), potentially disposable and inexpensive to fabricate (sometimes
using printed electronics), flexible, customizable on the molecular level and potentially have less
adverse environmental impact.

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