Solar Photovoltaic technology and

its Applications
 What is Solar Energy?

• Originates with
the thermonuclear
fusion reactions
occurring in the
sun.
• Represents the
entire
electromagnetic
radiation (visible
light, infrared,
ultraviolet, x-rays,
and radio waves).
 Phase 1
• PN junction diode / solar cell
• PV cell technology
• Basic structure of solar panel
• Rating of PV module
• Shading in solar panel
• Stand alone PV
• Grid connected PV
PN junction ?
 PV cell basic
• Solar cells are usually made of two thin
pieces of silicon, the substance that makes
up sand and the second most common
substance on earth.
• One piece of silicon has a small amount of
boron added to it, which gives it a tendency
to attract electrons. It is called the p-layer
because of its positive tendency.
• The other piece of silicon has a small
amount of phosphorous added to it, giving it
an excess of free electrons. This is called the
n-layer because it has a tendency to give up
 Photovoltaic Effect
• When sunlight hits the
semiconductor, an electron
springs up and is attracted
toward the n-type
semiconductor. This causes
more negatives in the n-type
semiconductors and more
positives in the p-type, thus
generating a higher flow of
electricity. This is the
photovoltaic effect.
 PV technology
• 1. Wafer based Si solar cell
• 2. Thin film Amorphous Si
• 3. Thin CdTe and CIGS
• 4. Thin film crystalline Si
• 5. Organic solar cell/ Dye sensitised / Light
concentrating Ga As
Basic types panels
 Types of Photovoltaic Cell
• First Generation PV Cell
– Single crystalline silicon
– Multi-junction cell (different band-gap materials)
• Second Generation PV Cell
– Thin film silicon (amorphous silicon)
– CdTe (Cadmium Telluride)
– CuInSe 2 (Copper Indium Diselenide)

• Third Generation PV Cell

– Ultra-High Efficiency concepts (>80%)
– Ultra-low Cost
• Polymer cells with quantum dots or nanostructures

Carbon nano tube on Si

for more efficient solar
power

CdTe rods in
polymer
Theoretical Efficiency of Photovoltaic
Cell

High band gap PV cell provides higher voltage

Typical efficiency of commercial PV is around 12%
Solar cell structure
Rating of PV panel
 Shading on solar cell
• Solar panels are silicon based semiconductor
materials that generate a current when light is
incident on it.
• Each PV panel is made up of smaller sized solar cells
which are connected in series to increase maximum
voltage that can be generated from it.
• When another object in the vicinity obstructs a
direct path from the sun, a shadow is cast on some
of the cells in the panel. Now, the cells without any
incident radiation will act as resistance to the
current flow. This heats up the cell, generating a
hotspot.
• This will damage the cell and render the entire PV
panel useless.
Role of bypass diode
• A bypass diode is added which is placed in parallel
with the panel to avoid the hotspots.
• If a shadow is cast then the current flows through
this diode and the panel is rendered useless.
• In other words, the panel is switched off.
• Solar Inverters have MPPT based tracking that
search for the tip of the above PV graph (right).
During partial shading, when some cells in a
particular panel have shadow, the inverter might get
stuck on the wrong tip and generate less power than
optimum.
Voltage and Current curve
How much solar energy?
 Solar Electric Systems
• Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert light
energy directly into electricity. Commonly
known as “Solar cells.”
• The simplest systems power the small
calculators we use every day. More
complicated systems will provide a large
portion of the electricity in the near future.
• PV represents one of the most promising
means of maintaining our energy intensive
standard of living while not contributing to
global warming and pollution.
 How Does it Work?
• Sunlight is composed of photons, or
bundles of radiant energy. When photons
strike a PV cell, they may be reflected or
absorbed (transmitted through the cell).
Only the absorbed photons generate
electricity.

• When the photons are absorbed, the energy

of the photons is transferred to electrons in
the atoms of the solar cell.
 Principle, construction and working of Solar
cell
Principle: The solar cells are based on the
principles of photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic
effect is the photo generation of charge carriers in a
light absorbing materials as a result of absorption of
light radiation.
Construction
• Solar cell (crystalline Silicon) consists of a n-type
semiconductor (emitter) layer and p-type
semiconductor layer (base). The two layers are
sandwiched and hence there is formation of p-n
junction.
• The surface is coated with anti-refection coating to
avoid the loss of incident light energy due to
reflection.
• A proper metal contacts are made on the n-type
26
 Working:
• When a solar panel exposed to sunlight , the light
energies are absorbed by a semi conduction
materials.
• Due to this absorbed Energy, the electrons are
liberated and produce the external DC current.
• The DC current is converted into 240-volt AC
current using an inverter for different applications.

• The electrons that leave the solar cell as current give

up their energy to whatever is connected to the solar
cell, and then re-enter the solar cell. Once back in the
solar cell, the process begins again.

27
 Mechanism:
• First, the sunlight is absorbed by a solar cell
in a solar panel.
• The absorbed light causes electrons in the
material to increase in energy. At the same
time making them free to move around in
the material.
• However, the electrons remain at this higher
energy for only a short time before returning to
their original lower energy position.
• Therefore, to collect the carriers before they
lose the energy gained from the light, a PN
junction is typically used. 28
Reasons to Consider a Photovoltaic System

Central and State governments offer considerable

subsidies to offset cost of system.
Incentives span small residential systems through
large commercial power plants
Systems typically offer 25 years of energy production.
Protect against rising electricity costs.
Offers the ability to reduce or completely eliminate
electric bills
No emissions
No fuel required
Many project have excellent payback profiles
❖ Solar PV is a semiconductor device which
converts sunlight directly into electricity.
❖ Therefore, a solar PV panel or a solar PV
module when exposed to sunlight generates
voltage and current at its output terminal.
❖ This voltage and current can be used for our
electricity requirements.
❖ The amount of electricity a solar PV module
can generate depends on the amount of sunlight
available to it.
❖ The higher is the intensity of the sunlight, the
more will be the electricity generated from it.
❖ When no sunlight falls on a solar PV module, no
electricity is generated.
❖ The amount of electricity generated from a PV
module also depends on the size of the module;
larger is the size of the module higher will be the
amount of electricity generated from it.
❖ The electricity that is generated from a PV
module is DC ( Direct Current ) in nature.
❖ The conventional supply available to us is AC (
Alternating current ) in nature.

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) module produces

electricity when Exposed to the sunlight
❖ We use electricity in many ways to run
appliances in our house and industry.
❖ We need electricity to run light bulbs, TV, fan,
refrigerator, mixer, washing machine etc.
❖ The electricity generated by a solar PV panel
can be used for any of these purposes.
❖ Even the solar PV power can also be used for
large applications like running a water pump of
very large capacity.

Electricity produced by the solar PV panel can

be used for any purpose that requires electricity
Solar PV panel produces DC electrical power,
which is different from AC power that we received
from our electrical grid supply.
 The direct current (DC) does not change its

direction of flow while an alternating current (AC)

changes its direction of flow 50 times in a second.

There are both type of appliances that use either

DC power or AC power for their operation.

Most of the equipment used in our homes use

AC power.
 Therefore, it is often required to convert DC

power into AC power.

The conversion of DC power to AC power can

be achieved using a device called inverter (or DC to

AC converter).

It is also possible to convert AC power into DC

power using rectifier.

A solar PV module produces DC power, which

can be converted to AC power using inverter
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TECHNOLOGY
Sunlight can be converted to electricity due to the
photovoltaic effect discovered in 1839 by Edmund Becquerel,
a French scientist.
Sunlight is composed of photons, or packets of energy.
When photons strike a solar cell ( technically a
semiconductor p - n junction device), they get absorbed in
solar cell resulting in generating of electrons and
generation of voltage across the solar cell which can
deliver current and thus power to run a electrical load.
Typical structure of a solar cell, showing the p-n junction, the front and
rear metal contacts and antireflective coating
❖ In order to collect the generated current from a solar
cell, metal contacts are deposited at the front and rear
side of a solar cell.
❖ At the rear side, the metal contact is continuous but at
the front side, it is in the form of metal lines.
❖ This is required in order to allow the light to enter the
cell.
❖ When light falls on a smooth surface a major portion is
reflected back.
❖ An antireflective coating is put on the cells to ensure
that most of the light that falls on solar cell enters the cell
and gets absorbed.
Protection of solar cells in solar PV modules
by encapsulation
 The blue colour of the commercially available silicon
solar cells is their anti – reflective coating.
Historically, it has been about 50 years since the first
operational silicon solar cell was demonstrated in 1950s.
However, the last 15 years have seen large
improvements in the solar cell technology, which is
mainly based on the use of material called silicon.
The two main parameters of solar cell technology are
the efficiency of solar cells and the cost of production.
 Over the year, solar cell efficiencies have been
improved and the cost of solar cell production have
decreased.
The efficiencies of solar cells available in the
market is in the range of 13 to 16 %.
Silicon based solar cell modules are not the only one
available in the commercial market.
There are solar PV modules that are made of other
technology, called thin – film technologies, like thin –
film amorphous silicon, thin – film cadmium telluride, etc.
Variation in the output power of 40 W and 75 W (rated power)
silicon PV modules as a function of temperature
Interconnection of solar cells to obtain solar PV modules and PV
modules to obtain PV module array for generating large power
Block diagram of a PV system
A typical PV water pumping system
Solar Home Lighting
System
• Solar Home Lighting Systems are basically 12
Volt,
Direct Current (DC), stand alone systems that
use SPV to electrify rural homes.

A SHLS includes the following:

• 1. SPV Module
• 2. Battery
• 3. Charge Controller or Balance-of-System
Equipment
• 4. Fluorescent lights
• 5. Wiring material, safety disconnects and
fuses and
 SPV Module

• The solar modules for a SHLS range between

20-60 Wp. They are mounted either on a rooftop
or a top a pole.
• Both crystalline and thin film technologies are
appropriate for a SHLS.
• Before ordering for a SHLS, it is very important to
determine the number of modules to be used to
power the load to be attached to the system.
• For each peak watt that a SPV module is rated, it
will produce a yearly average of around 6.2 watt
hours/ day of electricity in tropical climate like
ours.
 Battery
• The batteries are used for storing electricity for
use at
night and for meeting demand loads during
the day when the modules are not generating
enough power to meet the load requirements.

• Basically electrochemical storage (lead acid)

batteries are used to store electricity converted
by the solar module.
• These are deep cycle batteries that are
designed to gradually discharge and recharge
80% of their capacity hundreds of times
 Charge controller
• A charge controller is utilized to control the flow of
electricity between the module battery and the
loads.

• The unit prevents battery damage by ensuring that

the battery is operating within it’s normal charge
levels.

• When the load is drawing power, the controller

allows charge to flow from the modules into the
load, battery or both, whereas when the controller
senses that the battery is fully charged, it stops the
flow of charge from the modules to the battery.
 Fluorescent Lights
• Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs as well
as fluorescent (FL) tube lights are generally
used in the SHLS for lighting purpose.
Wiring material, safety disconnects and
fuses and a grounding circuit
• The SHLS contains additional wiring material
for connections, outlets for connecting
electrical loads to the system, metallic frames
for mounting the SPV modules to a pole or the
roof, switches for the lights, safety disconnects
and fuses for providing additional safety to the
user and other additional accessories.
Typical Cost of Solar PV Modules

PV panel rating watt (

No Cost ( Rs )
peak ), Wp

1 10 2000
2 20 4000
3 40 8000
4 75 15000
 TYPICAL COST OF BATTERIES
Battery rating Voltage Cost
No Amp-hour rating ( Rs )
( Ah ) ( volts )
1 40 12 3300
2 60 12 3400
3 90 12 4650
4 110 12 5000
5 150 12 9500
SPECIFICATION OF AN INVERTER
Rated Power 1000 VA- 5 kVA-8kVA 9 kVA
3000 VA -15 kVA

Input Voltage 12 V/24 V 24 V/36 36 V/48 V

V/48 V

Output Voltage 220 V(AC) & 220 V(AC) & 220 V(AC) &
110 V(AC) 110 V(AC) 110 V(AC)

Output Frequency 50 Hz/60 Hz 50 Hz/60 Hz 50 Hz/60 Hz

Output Waveform Full sine Full sine Full sine

wave wave wave
Typical Cost of Inverter
No System ( kVA ) Cost ( Rs )

1 1 5000
2 2 7000
3 3 9000
4 4 12000
5 5 15000
 Handle

CFL

Charge On / Off
Solar PV controller switch
panel
Battery

Solar PV Lantern
 Typical Power ratings of common
appliances
Power
Component
Rating

CFL ( watts ) 8 to 18
Fan ( watts ) 60
Tube + Cu choke ( watts ) 55
Tube + Electronic choke (
watts )
47
In order to design PV system, number of parameters about the
component used in the system should be known. Following
assumptions can be made ( for actual design real data should be
obtained ):
Assumptions:
Inverter converts DC into AC power with an efficiency of about
90 %. Battery charging and discharging cycle efficiency is about
90 %. Also all the charge of a battery cannot be used. And one
has to consider maximum depth of discharge of a battery. This
can vary widely. Here we are assuming 80 % depth of discharge,
meaning only 80 % of the total capacity of the battery is useful.
The combined efficiency of inverter and battery will be calculated
as,
Combined efficiency = inverter efficiency x battery efficiency
= 0.9 x 0.9 = 0.81 = 81 %
Battery voltage used for operation = 12 volts
Battery capacity = 120 Ah
Sunlight available in a day = 8 h / d ( equivalent of
peak radiation )
Operation of lights and fan = 6 h / d on PV panels
PV panel power rating = 40 Wp
In the operating condition the actual output power of a PV module
is less. Thus, a factor called ‘operating factor’ is used to estimate
the actual output from a PV module. The operating factor can vary
between 0.60 and 0.90 and 0.90 ( implying that output power is 60
to 80 % lower than rated output power ) in normal operating
conditions, depending on temperature, dust on module, etc. Thus
the actual output power of a 40 Wp PV panel = 0.75 ( operating
factor ) x 40 = 30 Watt. Remember Wp, meaning, watt ( peak ),
gives only peak power output of a PV panel.
 A solar PV system design can be done in four steps:
1. Load estimation
2. Estimation of number of PV panels
3. Estimation of battery bank
4. Cost estimation of the system

Steps to design a solar PV system

Step 1 : Find out total energy requirement of the system
( total load )
Total connected load to PV panel system
= No. of units x rating of equipment's
= 2 x 18 + 2 x 60 = 156 watts
Total watt-hours rating
= Total connected load ( watts ) x operating hours
= 156 x 6 = 936 watt - hours
STEP 2 : Find out the number of PV panels required
Actual power output of a PV panel
= Peak power rating x operating factor
= 40 x 0.75 = 30 watt
Total power used at the end use is less ( due to lower
combined efficiency of the system )
= Actual power output of a panel x combined efficiency
= 30 x 0.81 = 24.3 watts ( VA )
= 24.3 watts
Energy produced by one 40 Wp panel in a day
= Actual power output x 8 hours / day (peak equivalent)
= 24.3 x 8 = 194.4 watt - hour
Note : Though the day length can be longer, we consider light
equivalent to number of peak hours ( 1000 W / m2 ) for which
solar panel is characterized. For exact value one need to look
at meteorological data for given location .Number of solar
panels required to satisfy given estimated daily load (from
step 1 )

= Total watt-hour rating ( daily load )

Daily energy produced by a panel

= 936 / 194.4 = 4.81 = 5 ( round figure )

Note : For system of voltage higher than 12 (say 24), 24/12=2,

two modules should be in series to provide 24 volt ( while
total number of panels should be same )
STEP 3 : Find out the battery requirement
Total amp-hour required ( total charge to be stored ), (
battery size should be higher than the actual useful
energy due to less combined efficiency of the system )
= Total W-hour rating
( combined efficiency x battery voltage )
= 936 / 0.72 x 12 = 108.33
Note : One can also decide to design a system with 24
volt or 48 volt. Since typically PV panels and battery
are designed to give 12 volt, series –parallel combination
of panels and batteries will be required to get higher PV
system voltages.
Number of batteries required = Total amp-hour rating
Battery rating under use
= 108.33 / 120
= 0.9 ≈ 1 ( round figure )
Step 4: Find out inverter size
Inverter rating (watts or VA )
Total connected load to PV panel system = 156 watts
= 156 VA
Inverter are available with rating of 100, 200, 500 VA, etc.
Therefore, the choice of the inverter should be 200 VA
In this way, total load and the requirement of number and
size of various solar PV system components can be estimated.
The examples taken here are for small size house. For
designing solar PV systems for large house or for industrial
application similar design approach can be taken.
 MPPT /
inverter
Motor Storage

PV Module

Solar PV Water pumping System

 CASE STUDY
Design of a PV system for pumping 25000 litres of water everyday form a
depth of about 12 metre is considered.
The data required for calculations are following and the calculation in
given below :
Amount of water to be pumped per day = 25000 litre = 25m 3
Total vertical lift = 12 metres ( 5 m – elevation, 5 m – standing water level,
2 m-drawdown )
Water density = 1000 kg / m3
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s2
Solar PV module used = 75 Wp
Operating factor = 0.75 ( PV panel mostly does not operate at peak rated
power )
Pump efficiency = 30 % or 0.30 ( can be between 0.25 and 0.40 )
Mismatch factor = 0.85 ( PV panel does not operate at maximum power
point )
 Calculations for PV water pumping system

Step 1 : Determine total daily water requirement

Daily water requirement = 25 m3 / day

Step 2 : Determine total dynamic head

Total vertical lift = 12 m

Frictional losses = 5 % of the total vertical lift

= 12 x 0.05 = 0.6 metre

Total dynamic head ( TDH) = 12 + 0.6 = 12.6

Step 3 : Determine the hydraulic energy required per day
Hydraulic energy required to raise water level
=mass x g x TDH
=density x volume x g x DH
=( 1000 kg / m3 ) x ( 25 m 3/day ) x ( 9.8 m/s2 ) x 12.6
=( multiply by 1/3600 to convert second in hours )
=857.5 watt-hour / day

Note : Potential energy of the water is raised due to pumping,

which must be supplied to the pump
Step 4 : Determine solar radiation data
Solar radiation data in terms of equivalent peak sunshine
radiation ( 1000 W/m2 ) varies between about 5 and 8 hours. For
exact hours, meteorological data should be used.
= 6 h / d ( peak of 1000 W/m2 equivalent ),
actual day length is longer ( this is equivalent
of solar radiation of 180000 watt-hours / month
at a given location )
Step 5 : Determine the number of PV panel and
pump size
Total wattage of PV panel
= Total hydraulic energy
No. of hours of peak sunshine / day
= 857.5 / 6 = 142.9 watt
Considering system losses
= Total PV panel wattage
Pump efficiency x Mismatch factor
= 142.9 / 0.3 x 0.85 = 560 watt
Consider operating factor for PV panel
= Total PV panel wattage after losses
operating factor
= 560 / 0.75 = 747.3 watt
Number of solar PV panel required of 75 Wp each
= 747.3 / 75 = 9.96 ≈ 10 (round figure)
Power rating of the motor
= 747.3 / 746 ≈ 1 HP motor
In this way, a solar PV water pumping system can be designed.
 Govt. of India’s Assistance for SPV
Programme
• Solar Radiation Resource Assessment stations
have been installed across India by the solar
PV, Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy(MNRE) to monitor the availability of
solar energy.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
provides 70 percent subsidy on the installation
cost of a solar photovoltaic power plant in
North-East states and 30 percentage subsidy on
other regions.
• The Government has announced an allocation
of 10 billion (US$182 million) towards the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and
the establishment of a clean energy fund the-
Solar Lanterns
 Solar Lanterns
• solar lamp is a portable light fixture composed of
an LED lamp composed of an LED lamp,
a photovoltaic composed of an LED lamp,
a photovoltaic solar panel composed of an LED
lamp, a photovoltaic solar panel, and
a rechargeable battery.
• Outdoor lamps may have lamp, solar panel and
battery integrated in one unit.
• Indoor solar lamps with separately-mounted
solar panels are used for general illumination
where centrally generated power is not
conveniently or economically available.
• Solar-powered household lighting may displace
 Best Place For Solar Panels?

• South Facing roof,

adequate space
• No shading (time of
year, future tree
growth)
• Roof structure,
condition
 Geometrical Parameters
• Concentration Ratio : The ratio of the
collector area and the receiver is called as
Geometric Concentration Ratio (GCR).
• Tilt angle :
It is the angle at which tilt the panel produce
maximum collectable output.
• Acceptance Angle
It is the maximum angle at which incoming
sun rays can be captured by concentrator
optics.
 • Declination Angle

It is the angle between the rays of the sun and plane of earth’s
equator. It varies according to season due to the tilt of earth on
its rotation of axis and rotation of earth around sun.

The declination δ, in degrees for any day of the year (N)

Calculate the declination angle on May 10. Solution

𝛿 = 23.45 sin [360/365(284+130)] = 17.52°

• Azimuth Angle
It is the compass direction from which the sun light
is coming. The sun is directly south in northern
hemisphere and directly north in the southern
hemisphere at noon. Normally at equinoxes only
the sun rises in East and sets in the West. At all
other times it makes azimuth angle from 90 o to 270 o
according to the latitude of the location and the time
of year.
sin (z) = cos (δ) sin (h) / cos(α)
 Hour Angle
• The hour angle, h, of a point on the earth’s
surface is defined as the angle through which
the earth would turn to bring the meridian of
the point directly under the sun.
h = ± 0.25 (Number of minutes from local
solar noon)
 Applications of Photovoltaic system
• Water Pumping: PV powered pumping systems are
excellent simple, reliable – life 20 years.
• Commercial Lighting: PV powered lighting systems
are reliable and low cost alternative. Security,
billboard sign, area, and outdoor lighting are all
viable applications for PV.
• Consumer electronics: Solar powered watches,
calculators, and cameras are all everyday
applications for PV technologies.
• Telecommunications
• Residential Power: A residence located more than a
mile from the electric grid can install a PV system
more inexpensively than extending the electric
grid (Over 500,000 homes worldwide use PV
power)as their only source of electricity)
Thank you