CALCUTTAI

NSTI
TUTEOFENGNERRI
NGANDMANAGEMENT
Engi
neer
ingPhy
sicsLab

BSPH-
191/
291

EXPERI
MENTNO:
-4

Obj
ect
ive: Study ofcurrent–volt
age,power-
load,ar
ealchar
act
eri
sti
cs and spect
ral
responseofphotov
olt
aicSol
ar-
Cel
l

Theor
y: Ener gyconv ersiondev iceswhi char eusedt oconv ertsunl ightt oelect ri
cityby
thephot ov oltaicef fectar ecalledsol arcel l
s.Thesear ebasi callyap- njunct ion
diode,whi chconv ertsl ightener gyt oel ect
ricalener gy .Whenasol arcel li s
il
lumi nated, thephot onsi ncidentont hecel lgener atesel ect ron-holepai rs.By
thedi ffusi onpr ocess,el ect ronandhol esr eacht hej unct ionAtt hej unct ionof
thedi odeani nher entel ect r
icfieldknownas‘ barrierf i
eld’separ atest heposi tive
and negat ive char ge car ri
ers Undert he act i
on oft his el ectri
cf ieldt he
electron( mi noritycar riers)f rom p- r
egionsweptt ot hen- regi onandhol esf rom
then- regi onar esweptt ot hep- r
egion.Itl eads toani ncreasei nt henumberof
holesi nt he p si de and t he electronson t he n si de oft he junct i
on.The
accumul at ionofchar gesont het wosi desoft hej unct i
onpr oducesanemf
calledaphot oemf ,alsoknownasopenci r
cuitv oltagewhi chi spr opor tionalt o
thei l
lumi nat i
on( mW/ cm2or
Lumen/ cm2)andont hesi zeoft hei l
lumi natedar ea.Whenaext ernalci rcuitis
connect edacr osst hesol arcel lterminals,themi noritycar riersr eturnt ot heir
originalsi descausi ngcur renttof lowt hrought heci r
cuit,t hatwi l
lcont i
nueas
long as mor ef r
ee el ectrons and hol es ar e bei ng gener ated byt he sol ar
radiation. Thisi st hebasi sofphot ovolt
ai cconv er sion.Thussol arcel lbehav es
asabat t erywi thnsi deast henegat i
vet erminalandpsi deasposi ti
ve.

1
 Ci
rcui
tdi
agr
am oft
hePanel

Phot
ovol
tai
cEf
fect

Appar
atus: Sol
ar-
cel
lki
t,l
ightsour
ce,
Areachopper
sofdi
ff
erentsi
zes,
opt
icalf
il
ter
s

Pr
ocedur
e:

1.Cur
rentv
olt
agechar
act
eri
sti
cs:

Incr
easetheloadoftheci
rcuitandnotedownt
her
eadi
ngsoft
hecur
rent
andvol
tageacrossoft
hep-
nj unct
ion.

2.Powerl
oadchar
act
eri
sti
cs:

Usi
ngt
heabov
edat
acal
cul
atepoweroft
heSol
arcel
lagai
nsteachl
oad.

3.Ar
ealchar
act
eri
sti
cs:

Settheint
ensi
tyofloadtoacertai
nval
ue.Var
ytheexposedsurf
acear
eaof
thesolarcel
lthroughaslott
edar eaandnotedownt hereadi
ngsofthe
curr
entandvolt
ageacrossofthep-nj
uncti
on.

2
 4.Spect
ralChar
act
eri
sti
cs:

Settheloadtoacer tai
nval
ue.Var
ythecoloroft
hel
ightf
all
ingonthesol
ar
cel
lthroughfil
terandnot edownthereadingsoft
hecurrentandvol
tage
acr
ossoft hep-njuncti
on.

Exper
iment
aldat
a:

1.Cur
rentv
olt
agechar
act
eri
sti
cs:

Sl
.No. Vol
tage(
V) Cur
rent

(
mA)

I
.

I
i.

I
ii
.

i
v.

v
.

Dr
awagr
aphbet
weencur
rentandVol
tage

2.Powerl
oadchar
act
eri
sti
cs

Sl
.No. R1 (
Ώ) Power=(
mW)

I
.

3
I
i.

I
ii
.

i
v.

v
.

Dr
awagr
aphbet
weenPowerandLoad

3.Ar
ealChar
act
eri
sti
cs

Sl
.No. Sl
ott
edAr cm2)
ea( Vol
tage(
V) Cur
rent(
mA) Power
(P)=VI

(
mW)

I
.

I
I

I
ii
.

Dr
awagr
aphbet
weenAr
eaoft
hesol
arcel
lthati
sexposedt
oradi
ati
onandt
heout
putPower
.

4.Spect
ralChar
act
eri
sti
cs

Sl
.No. Fi
lt
erCol
ors Wav
elengt
h Vol
tage(
V) Cur
rentI(
mA) PowerP=VI

λ(
A’) (
mW)

I
. Bl
ue

I
i. Gr
een

I
ii
. Yel
low

4
i
v. Or
ange

v
. Red

Dr
awagr
aphbet
weenWav
elengt
handPower

I
nfer
ence: 1.Fr om graph,itcanbeconcludedthatforaparticularvalueofl
oad
resistance,t
hepowerdel i
veredbythesolarcellismaxi mum.
2.Out putpowerofthesolarcelli
ncreaseswitht heincreaseofar
eaofthesol
ar
cellthatexposed.
3.The out putpowerofcel lincr
easeswi t
hthei ncreaseofthewavel
engthof
incidentray supt oyell
owcolourbutdecreasesaft
erit.

Di
scussi
on:

1. I
npr
act
ice,
theopenci
rcui
tvol
tageoft
hecel
ldecr
easeswi
thi
ncr
easi
ngt
emper
atur
e.

2.Forbotht heoret
icalandpr
acticalreasons,notal loft
hesolarradi
ati
onener gyfall
ing
onasol arcellcanbeconv ertedintoel ectr
icenergy.Weak,low frequency(Long
wavelength)phot onsdonotpossessuf fi
cientenergyt odisl
odgeelectr
ons.Strong,
hi
gh f r
equency( shortwavelength)phot ons aret oo ener
geti
c,and although they
di
slodgeel ect
rons,someoftheirenergyisleftoverunused.

3.Aspecif
icamountofener gyisrequir
edtoproduceafreeelect
ronandahol
einthe
semi
conductormateri
al.I
nsili
con,f
orexampl
e,theener
gymi ni
mum is1.
1eVandt
his
i
savai
lablei
nradi
ationhavingawav el
engt
hof1.1µm.orless.

4. Atelevat
edt
emper
atur
e,cel
lsmadeofgal
li
um ar
seni
dear
esuper
iort
osi
li
conf
or
operati
on.

5.Most lysolarcel l
sar ef abricatedfrom si l
iconsingl ecr yst
al.Si
liconisnott r
ansparent
forv i
siblelight.Ther eforet hesur facel ayeroft hecel l,whichi sofp-type,ismade
extremel ythintoenabl emaxi mum l ighttopenet ratet othejunctionToenhancet he
transmi ssi
onofl ightintot hemat er i
al,anant i
-ref l
ectioncoatingi sgiv
enov erthep-
typelay er.
Toi ncreaset hepowerout put,ano.ofp- nj uncti
onssol arcel
ls)ar
e arr
ay ed
andi nterconnectedonsi l
iconwaf er,suchanar r angementi scal l
edasol arpanel.In
normaluse.Si ngl
esol arcel lisrar
elyused, asi
tsout putisverylow.