Titolo

Introduction to presentazione
photovoltaic generation
sottotitolo
Morris Brenna Milano, XX mese 20XX
 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

The radiation intensity outside the Earth's atmosphere according to

the solar constant is called the extraterrestrial radiation.
The maximum of the spectral
distribution is situated in the
area of visible light (with a
wavelength between 0.38 μm
and 0.78 μm) and drop down
going to the ultraviolet (UV:
0.2 - 0.38 μm) and the
infrared to infrared radiation
(IR: 0.78 - 2.6 μm) as
illustrated in the figure.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

Regarding light falling on a surface of glass it can be reflected (ρ),

absorbed (α) or transmitted (τ), whereby
ρ+α+τ=1
Similarly, while passing through the atmosphere, the extraterrestrial
radiation experiences attenuation such as reflection, scattering (reflection
in many directions) and absorption. The solar radiation is reflected and
scattered primarily by clouds (moisture and ice particles), particulate matter
(dust, smoke, haze and smog) and various gases. Reflection of incident
solar radiation back into space by clouds varies with their thickness and
albedo (ratio of reflected to incident light). Thin clouds may reflect less than
20% of the incident solar radiation whereas a thick and dense cloud may
reflect over 80%. Consequently, regions with cloudy climates receive less
solar radiation than cloud-free desert climates. For any given location, the
solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface decreases with increasing
cloud cover.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy
 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

In addition, local geographical features such as mountains, oceans and large

lakes influence the formation of clouds. Therefore the amount of solar radiation
received for these areas may be different from that received by land areas
located a short distance away. For example, mountains may receive less solar
radiation than nearby foothills and plains located a short distance away. Winds
blowing against mountains force some of the air to rise and clouds form from the
moisture in the air as it cools. Coastlines may also receive a different amount of
solar radiation than areas further inland. Where the changes in geography are
less pronounced, e.g. in the Great Plains, the amount of solar radiation varies
less. The two major processes involved in tropospheric scattering are
determined by the size of the molecules and particles. They are known as
selective scattering and nonselective scattering. Selective scattering is caused
by smoke, fumes, haze and gas molecules that are the same size or smaller
than the incident radiation wavelength. Scattering in these cases is inversely
proportional to wavelength and is therefore most effective for the shortest
wavelengths (blue components).

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

Selective scattering of Sunlight under clear-sky conditions accounts

for the blue sky when the degree of scattering is sufficiently high.
This is determined by the length of the atmospheric path traversed
by Sunlight, which refers to the so-called Air Mass (AM). Air Mass
represents the strength or the mass of the atmosphere and can be
approximated by the following equation
when the Sun is at an angle φ
to overhead as shown in the
figure
1
Air mass =
cos φ

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

With the Sun overhead at noon (AM 1), the sky appears white because little
scattering occurs at the minimum atmospheric path length. At Sunrise and
Sunset, however, the solar disc appears red because of the increased
atmospheric path associated with relatively high scattering of the short
wavelength blues and greens. As a result, only the longer wavelengths (red
components) are left in the direct beam reaching our eyes. Nonselective
scattering is caused by dust, fog and clouds with particle sizes more than 10
times the wavelength of the incident radiation. Since scattering in this case is
not wavelength dependent, it is equal for all wavelengths. As a consequence,
clouds appear white. Absorption of solar radiation is caused mostly by
atmospheric gases and partly by clouds. As obviously indicated in previous
figure ozone (O3) is primarily responsible for the UV radiation. Depletion of
ozone layer has therefore a harmful effect on the Earth's biological systems.
Water vapor (H2O) results in the absorption bands around 1 μm and absorbs
longer wavelengths together with carbon dioxide (CO2).

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

As a result, the maximal radiation falling on the Earth's surface at midday

amounts of 1000 W/m2 when the sky is cloudless. This so-called global radiation
is composed of direct radiation, diffuse radiation and albedo radiation. Direct (or
beam) radiation comes directly from the Sun without change of direction
whereas diffuse radiation is the result of scattering of the sunbeam or reducing
the magnitude of the sunbeam due to atmospheric constituents as mentioned. It
is incident from all directions in the sky. Therefore the sky appears to be equally
bright in all directions. When the sky is completely overcast or the Sun is below
the horizon, only diffusion radiation reaches the Earth's surface.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

Even when the sky is clear, the radiation intensity on the Earth's surface
changes continually during a day. Less radiation is available early in the
morning or late in the afternoon, as then the radiation has a longer path
through the atmosphere and is more strongly attenuated than at midday.
Albedo radiation refers to reflected light from the ground and surroundings
and corresponds to the ratio of reflected to the incident light at a surface
considered, namely albedo.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

The annual distribution and the total amount of solar energy are
determined by climatic and meteorological factors, which depend on
the locations and the seasons. These differences in the weather over
the Earth are due to the changes of the Sun's position and the length
of daylight within the year, which
in turn are caused by the tilt of
the Earth's axis relative to its
orbit around the Sun. As shown
in figure, for instance the global
radiation even at a certain
location changes throughout the
year.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

Whereas an average annual available solar energy for Germany

amounts to 1000 kWh/m2 approximately, some regions such as
the deserts in Africa, the energy is twice as much available as in
Central Europe.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

Figure below explains the amount of solar radiation throughout the

year at different locations. In Central Europe, the amount of incident
solar energy during
November and January is
about five times less than
in summer months
whereas the radiation
supply is much more
uniform at low latitudes.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar Radiation on the Earth's Surface

In addition, annual mean solar radiation for all lands over the world is
presented in the figure below. Here it is obviously seen that the
amount of
incident solar
radiation is
different in
each part of
the world.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Fundamentals of photovoltaics

The direct transformation from the solar radiation energy into electrical
energy is possible with the photovoltaic effect by using solar cells. The
term photovoltaic is often abbreviated to PV. The radiation energy is
transferred by means of the photoeffect directly to the electrons in their
crystals. With the photovoltaic effect an electrical voltage develops in
consequence of the absorption of the ionizing radiation. Solar cells must
be differentiated from photocells whose conductivity changes with
irradiation of sunlight. Photocells serve e.g. as exposure cells in cameras
since their electrical conductivity can drastically vary with small intensity
changes. They produce however no own electrical voltage and need
therefore a battery for operation. The photovoltaic effect was discovered
in 1839 by Alexandre Edmond Becquerel while experimenting with an
electrolytic cell made up of two metal electrodes. Becquerel found that
certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current when
exposed to light. About 50 years later Charles Fritts constructed the first
true solar cells using junctions formed by coating the semiconductor
selenium with an ultrathin, nearly transparent layer of gold. Fritts's
devices were very inefficient: efficiency less than 1%.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Fundamentals of photovoltaics

The first silicon solar cell with an efficiency of approx. 6% was developed in
1954 by three American researchers, namely Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller and
G.L. Pearson in the Bell Laboratories. Solar cells proved particularly suitably
for the energy production for satellites in space and still represent today the
exclusive energy source of all space probes. The interest in terrestrial
applications has increased since the oil crisis in 1973. Main objective of
research and development is thereby a drastic in lowering of the
manufacturing costs and lately also a substantial
increase of the efficiency. The base material
of almost all solar cells for applications in
space and on earth is silicon. The most
common structure of a silicon solar cell is
schematically represented this figure.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Fundamentals of photovoltaics

An approx. 300 μm silicon wafer consists of two layers with

different electrical properties prepared by doping foreign atoms
such as boron and phosphorous. The back surface side is total
metalized for charge carrier collection whereas on the front,
which exposes to the beam of incident light, only one metal grid is
applied in order that as much light as possible can penetrate into
the cell. The surface is normally provided with an antireflection
coating to keep the losses from reflection as small as possible.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Charge transport in the doped silicon

Now we consider the doping of silicon, a tetravalent element, which

is the most frequent applied semiconductor material, also for solar
cells. Replacement of a silicon atom by a pentavalent atom, e.g.
phosphorus (P) or arsenic (As), leads to a surplus electron only
loosely bound by the Coulomb force, which can be ionized by an
energy (ca. 0.002 eV). The quantity eV is an energy unit
corresponding to the energy gained by an electron when its
potential is increased by one volt. Since pentavalent elements
donate easily an electron, one calls them
donors. The donor atom is positively charged
with the electron donation (ionized). The
current transport in such a material practically
occurs only by means of electrons, it is called
n-type material.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Charge transport in the doped silicon

Replacement by a trivalent element, e.g. boron (B), aluminum (Al)

or gallium (Ga), leads to a lack of an electron. Now an electron in
the neighborhood of a hole can fill up this blank and leaves a new
hole at its original position consequently. This results in the
current conduction by means of positive holes. Therefore this
material is called p-type material. Trivalent atoms, which easily
accept an electron, are defined as
acceptors. The acceptor atoms are
negatively ionized by the electron
reception. At ambient temperature
donors and acceptors are already
almost completely ionized in the silicon.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Effects of a P-N junction

Usually a p-n junction is generated by the fact that a strong n-type layer is
produced in the p-type material by indiffusion of a donor (P, As) at higher
temperatures (ca. 850 °C). Completely analog in the n-type material, although
less common, a p-n junction can be produced by
indiffusion of an acceptor. In the boundary surface’s
neighborhood of the n- or p-type material the
following effects occur: In the n-region so
many electrons are available, in the p-region
so many holes. These concentration
differences lead to the fact that electrons
from the n-region diffuse into the p-region
and holes from the p-region diffuse into the
n-region. As a result, diffusion currents of
electrons into the p-region and diffusion
currents of holes into the n-region arise.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy
 Effects of a P-N junction

By the flow of negative and positive charges a deficit of charges

develops within the before electrically neutral regions, i.e. it results a
positive charge within the donor region and a negative charge within the
acceptor region. Thus an electrical field develops over the boundary
surface and causes now field currents from both charge carrier types,
which are against the diffusion currents. In the equilibrium the total value
of current through the boundary surface is zero. The field currents
compensate completely the diffusion currents: the hole currents
compensate completely among themselves and the electron currents
likewise. This electrostatic field extending over the boundary surface
refers to the potential difference VD, which is called diffusion voltage. It
is situated in the order of magnitude of 0.8 eV. This electrical field
causes the separation of the charge carriers produced by light in the
solar cell. Within the region of the stationary electrical positive and
negative charge, in the so-called space-charge zone, a lack of mobile
charge carriers appears, which has very high impedance.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Effects of a P-N junction

Applying the n-region with a negative voltage (forward bias)

reduces the diffusion voltage, decreases the electrical field
strength and thus the field currents. These do not compensate
now the diffusion currents of the electrons and holes, as without
external voltage, anymore. As a result a net diffusion current from
electrons and holes flows through the p-n junction. If the applied
voltage is equal to the diffusion voltage, then the field currents
disappear and the current is limited only by the bulk resistors.
Contrarily, an applied positive voltage at the outside n-region
(reverse bias) adds itself to the diffusion voltage, increases the
space-charge zone, thus it comes to outweighing the field
current. The resulting current whose direction of the reverse bias
is contrary is very small.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Effects of a P-N junction

The mathematical process at the p-n junction leads to the famous diode
equation:
  qV 
 
ID =
I 0 ⋅ e  kT 
− 1
 
Where:
• ID = diode current [A]
•q = magnitude of electron charge [1.6*10-19 C]
•V = applied voltage [V] (>0 forward bias <0 reverse bias)
•k = Boltzmann's constant [8.65·10-5 eV/K]
•T = absolute temperature [K]

The quantity I0 defines the so-called dark- or saturation current of a

diode. It plays a very large role of the performance of a solar cell.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Optical absorption

Light, which falls on a solar cell, can be reflected, absorbed or

transmitted. Since silicon has a high refractive index (> 3.5), over
30% of the incident light are reflected. Therefore solar cells are
always provided with an antireflection coating. A thin layer
titanium dioxide is usual. Thus the reflection losses for the solar
spectrum can be reduced to about 10%. More reduction of the
reflection losses can be achieved by multi-layer AR layers. A two-
part layer from titanium dioxide and magnesium fluoride reduces
the reflection losses of a remainder up to 3%. Photons (light
quanta) interact with materials mainly by excitation of electrons.
The main process in the field of energy, in which solar cells are
applied, is the photoelectric absorption. Thereby the photon is
completely absorbed by a bound electron.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Optical absorption

The electron takes the entire energy of the photon and becomes
free-electron. However, in semiconductors a photon can be only
absorbed if its energy is larger than the bandgap. Photons with
energies smaller than the bandgap pass through the
semiconductor and cannot contribute to an energy conversion.
However, photons with much larger energies than the bandgap
are also lost for the energy conversion since the surplus energy is
fast given away as heat to the crystal lattice. During the
interaction of the normal solar spectrum with a silicon solar cell,
about 60% of the energy for a transformation are lost because
many of the photons possess energies, which are smaller or
larger than the bandgap.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Recombination of charge carriers

The absorption of light produces pairs of electrons. The concentration of

charge carriers is therefore higher during the lighting than in the dark. If
the light is switched off, the charge carriers return to their equilibrium
concentration in the dark. The return process is called recombination
and is the reverse process for generation by light absorption.
Recombination occurs even naturally also already during the
generation. The charge-carrier concentration appearing with lighting is
the result from two opposite running processes. During their lifetimes the
charge carriers can travel a certain distance in the crystal until they
recombine. The average distance, which a charge carrier can travel
between the place of its origin and the place of its recombination, is
called diffusion length. This quantity plays an important role for the
behavior of a solar cell. It depends on diffusion coefficient of a material
and a lifetime of a charge carrier (time that it takes for a charge carrier to
be captured according to recombination).

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

Figure below shows the three main parts of a solar cell

schematically: the diffused strong n-doped emitter, the space-
charge zone and the p-doped base.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

A photon with sufficient large energy falls on the surface of the solar cell,
penetrates emitters and space-charge zone and is absorbed in the p-
base. An electron-hole pair is developed due to the absorption. Since
electrons are in the minority in the p-base, one calls them minority
charge carrier contrary to the holes, which are majority charge carrier
here. This electron diffuses in the p-base until it arrives at the boundary
of the space-charge zone. The existing strong electrical field in the
space-charge zone accelerates the electron and brings it to the emitter
side. Thus a separation of the charge carriers took place. Thereby the
electrical field works as separation medium. A prerequisite is that the
diffusion length of the electron has to be large enough so that the
electron can arrive up to the space-charge zone. In case of too small
diffusion length a recombination would occur before reaching the space-
charge zone, the energy would be lost.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

Absorption of a light quantum in the emitter leads again to the formation of

an electron-hole pair. According to the strongly doped n-emitter the holes are
here the minority charge carrier. With sufficient large diffusion length the hole
reaches the edge of the space-charge zone, is accelerated by the electric
field and is brought to the p-base side. If the absorption occurs in the space-
charge zone, electrons and holes are immediately separated according to
the existing electrical field there. In consequence of the incident light it yields:
If concentration of electrons at the n-emitter side is increased, concentration
of holes at the p-base side increases. An electrical voltage is built up. If n-
emitter and p-base are galvanically connected, e.g. by an ohmic resistor,
electrons from the emitter flows through the galvanic connection to the base
and recombines with the holes there. Current flow means however power
output. This current flow continues so long as the incident light radiation is
available. As a result, light radiation is immediately converted into electricity.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Theoretical description of the solar cell

As already mentioned, illuminated solar cell creates free charge

carriers, which allow current to flow through a connected load.
The number of free charge carriers is proportional to the incident
radiation intensity. So does also the photocurrent (Iph), which is
internally generated in the solar cell. Therefore an ideal solar cell
can be represented by the following simplified equivalent circuit.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

It consists of the diode created by the p-n junction and a

photocurrent source with the magnitude of the current depending
on the radiation intensity. An adjustable resistor is connected to
the solar cell as a load. The mathematical process of an ideal
exposed solar cell leads to the following equation:

  qV 
 
I cell = I ph − I D = I ph − I 0 ⋅ e kT  − 1
 

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

In an imaginary
experiment, the I-V
characteristic curve
for a certain
incident radiation
will now be
constructed, point
by point:

  qV 
 
I cell = I ph − I D = I ph − I 0 ⋅ e  kT 
− 1
 

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

When the terminals are short-circuited (Rload = 0 ), the output

voltage and thus also the voltage across the diode is zero. Since
V = 0, no current ID flows (point 1 in the previous figure) therefore
the entire photocurrent Iph generated from the radiation flows to
the output. Thus the cell current has its maximum at this point
with the value Icell and refers
to the so-called short-circuit
current Isc.

I cell I=
= ph D I ph

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

If the load resistance is now continually increased, the solar cell

voltage also increases whereas the current remains constant. Up
to a certain voltage value the current flowing through the internal
diode remains negligible, thus the output current continues
corresponding to the photocurrent (point 2 in the previous figure).
Until the diode voltage threshold is exceeded after the load
resistance is further increased, a rapidly increasing proportion of
the photocurrent flows through the diode. This current leads to
power loss in the internal diode corresponding to an area
between the photocurrent curve and the cell current curve. Since
the sum of the load current and the diode current must be equal
to the constant photocurrent, the output current decreases by
exactly this amount (point 3 in the previous figure).

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

For an infinitely large load resistance (open circuit) as shown in the

figure below, the output current is then zero (Icell = 0 ) and thus the
entire photocurrent flows through the internal diode (point 4 in the
previous figure). The open-circuit voltage Voc can be therefore
derived again from the above equation:

kT  I ph 
Voc = ⋅ ln  + 1
q  I0 

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

From this experiment it becomes obvious that the characteristic

curve for a solar generator is equivalent to an "inverted" diode
characteristic curve, which is shifted upward by an offset equal to
the photocurrent
(= short-circuit current).
Since electric power is the
product of current and
voltage, therefore a curve
of the power delivered by
a solar cell can be
obtained for a given
radiation level.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

Although the current has its maximum at the short-circuit point, the
voltage is zero and thus the power is also zero. The situation for current
and voltage is reversed at the open-circuit point, so again the power
here is zero. In between, there is one particular combination of current
and voltage, for which the power reaches a maximum (graphically
indicated with a rectangle area in the above figure). The so-called
maximum power point (MPP) represent the working point, at which the
solar cell can deliver maximum power for a given radiation intensity. It is
situated near the bend of the I-V characteristic curve. The corresponding
values of VMPP and IMPP can be estimated from Voc and Isc as follows:

• VMPP = (0.75 – 0.9)Voc

• IMPP = (0.85 -0.95)Isc

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

In addition, the quantity

FF =
(VMPP ⋅ I MPP )
(Voc ⋅ I sc )
is called Fill Factor represents the measure for the quality of the
solar cell. It indicates how far the I-V characteristic curve
approximates to a rectangle. Normally the value for crystalline solar
cells is about 0.7-0.8.
The maximum output power of the cell is then

PMPP = VMPP ⋅ I MPP = Voc ⋅ I sc ⋅ FF

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Solar cells under incident light

Thus the efficiency of the solar cell, which refers to the ratio of the
output electrical energy to the input solar radiation (Pin), is defined by
the following relation.

Voc ⋅ I sc ⋅ FF
η=
( Pin )
Until now the highest obtained efficiencies of the silicon solar cells
with irradiation of a solar spectrum AM 1.5 are approx. 24%. The
efficiencies of the silicon solar cells from the line production for
terrestrial applications are situated between 10 and 14%. The
theoretical efficiencies of the silicon solar cell is however ca. 26-27%.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Influence of series and parallel resistance

With regard to the behavior of a real solar cell, two parasitic resistances
inside the cell, namely a series (Rs) and parallel resistance (Rp), are taken
into consideration for more exact description as indicated in the equivalent
circuit diagram in the figure below. The series resistance arises from the bulk
resistance of the silicon wafer, the resistance of the metallic contacts of the
front- and back surface and further circuit resistances from connections and
terminals. The parallel resistance is mainly caused by leakage currents due
to p-n junction non-idealities and impurities near the junction, which cause
partial shorting of the junction, particularly near the cell edges.
 kTq (Vload + Icell ⋅Rs ) 
I cell = I ph − I 0 ⋅  e − 1 +
 
V + I ⋅R
− load cell s
Rp

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Influence of series and parallel resistance

Only larger series resistances reduce also the short-circuit current (left
figure) whereas very small parallel resistances reduce the open-circuit
voltage (right figure). However, their influence reduces primarily the value of
the Fill factor. As a result, the maximum power output is decreased.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Sources of losses in solar cells

a) A part of the incident light is reflected by metal grid at the front.

Additional reflection losses arise during radiation transition from the
air into the semiconductor material due to different indexes of
refraction. These losses are reduced by coating the surface with
antireflection layer. Another possibility is a structuring the cell
surface.
b) The solar radiation is characterized by a wide spectral distribution,
i.e. it contains photons with extreme different energies. Photons with
small energy than the bandgap are not absorbed and thus are
unused. Since the energies are not sufficient to ionize electrons,
electron-hole pairs will not be produced. In case of photons with
larger energy than the bandgap, only amount of energy equal to the
bandgap is useful, regardless of how large the photon energy is.
The excess energy is simply dissipated as heat into the crystal
lattice.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Sources of losses in solar cells

c) Since the photocurrent is directly proportional to the number of

photons absorbed per unit of time, the photocurrent increases with
decreasing bandgap. However, the bandgap determines also the
upper limit of the diffusion voltage in the p-n junction. A small
bandgap leads therefore to a small open-circuit voltage. Since the
electrical power is defined by the product of current and voltage, a
very small bandgaps result in small output power, and thus low
efficiencies. In case of large bandgaps, the open-circuit voltage will
be high. However, only small part of the solar spectrum will be
absorbed. As a result, the photocurrent achieves here only small
values. Again, the product of current and voltage stays small.
d) The dark current I0 is larger than the theoretical value. This reduces
the open-circuit voltage.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Sources of losses in solar cells

e) Not all charge carriers produced are collected, some

recombine. Charge carriers recombine preferably at
imperfections, i.e. lattice defects of crystal or impurities.
Therefore, source material must have a high crystallographic
quality and provide most purity. Likewise, the surface of the
semiconductor material is a place in which the crystal
structure is very strongly disturbed and forms a zone of
increasing recombination.
f) The fill factor is always smaller than one (theoretical max.
value about 0.85).
g) Series and parallel resistance result in reduction of the fill
factor.

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Effect of Irradiation

According to the relation of the photocurrent to the irradiation the short-circuit

current Isc is linearly proportional to the solar radiation over a wide range.
Anyway, with regard to the explanation of the solar cell equivalent circuit and
the shape of the characteristic curve, open-circuit voltage Voc refers to the
voltage across the internal diode when the total generated photocurrent
flows through it.
Similarly to the solar cell
characteristic curve, the dependence
of the open-circuit voltage on the
radiation corresponds to an inverted
diode characteristic. When the
radiation intensity is low (and thus
also the photocurrent), Voc is also
low; however it increases
logarithmically with increasing
radiation

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy

 Effect of temperature

Since the band gap energy decreases with rising temperature, more
photons have enough energy to create electron-hole pairs. As a
consequence of increasing minority carrier diffusion lengths the
photocurrent, that is to say: the short-circuit current, is observed to increase
slightly. However, this
is a small effect. Vice versa Voc
is strongly temperature-
dependent. Since the cell
voltage and current depend on
the temperature, the supplied
electric power (P ) also varies
with the temperature:

• Isc increases by about 0.07%/K

• P sinks by about 0.4 – 0.5%/K
• Voc sinks by about 0.4%/K

Morris Brenna – Department of Energy