Unit-IV

Solar Photovoltaics
Introduction to photovoltaics systems
• A basic solar cell is a pn- junction
diode
• Power from a solar cell is
obtained by a phenomenon
called “photovoltaic effect”.
• Most commonly used solar cells
are Si-based.
 Solar Energy  Electrical power

• Charge controller limits the rate at which electric current is added to or drawn
from electric batteries.

• It also prevents overcharging and may protect against overvoltage, which can
reduce battery performance or lifespan, and may pose a safety risk.
 PV History
• Photovoltaic effect was first observed in 1839 by a French physicist, Edmund
Becquerel.

• Becquerel noted a voltage appeared when one of two identical electrodes in

a weak conducting solution was illuminated.

• The PV effect was first studied in solids, such as selenium, in the 1870s.

• In the 1880s, selenium photovoltaic cells were built that exhibited 1%-2%
efficiency in converting light to electricity.

• Selenium cells have never become practical as energy converters because

their cost is too high relative to the tiny amount of power they produce (at 1%
efficiency).
 PV History
• In the 1920s and 1930s, quantum mechanics laid the theoretical foundation
for our present understanding of PV.

• A major step forward in solar-cell technology came in the 1940s and early
1950s when a method (called the Czochralski method) was developed for
producing highly pure crystalline silicon.

• In 1954, work at Bell Telephone Laboratories resulted in a silicon

photovoltaic cell with a 4% efficiency.

• Bell Labs soon bettered this to a 6% and then 11% efficiency, heralding an
entirely new era of power-producing cells.
 PV History
• A few schemes were tried in the 1950s to use silicon PV cells commercially.

• Most were for cells in regions geographically isolated from electric utility lines.
But an unexpected boom in PV technology came from a different quarter.

• In 1958, the U.S. Vanguard space satellite used a small (less than one-watt)
array of cells to power its radio.

• The cells worked so well that space scientists soon realized the PV could be an
effective power source for many space missions. Technology development of
the solar cell has been a part of the space program ever since.
 PV History
• Besides the space program, the transistor industry, contributed greatly to solar-
cell technology.

• Transistors and PV cells are made from similar materials, and their workings are
determined by many of the same physical mechanisms.

• Today, photovoltaic systems are capable of transforming one kilowatt of solar

energy falling on one square meter into about a hundred watts' of electricity.

• One hundred watts can power most household appliances: a television, a

stereo, an electric typewriter, or a lamp.
 Photovoltaic Effect
The photovoltaic effect occurs when light shines onto
the n-layer. Since this layer is thin, light can
penetrate into the np-junction, where it encounters
electron-hole pairs

If the light hits an electron-hole pair, the electron and

the hole are separated due to:
• by the positive space charge the electron is pulled
into the n-layer, and
• by the negative space charge the hole is pulled into
the p-layer.

This leads to charge separation, and

development of a potential difference
 Solar Energy Potential and Utilization
 The utilization of solar energy for electricity generation – primarily through Solar PV – is
booming.

 Since 2000, the global Solar PV

industry has grown by around
45% per year on average

 Installed capacity has been

doubling every two or three
years (see right).
 Solar Energy Potential and Utilization
 The potential for the utilization of additional solar energy – and for solar to play a large
role in global energy production is vast.
 Most places on earth get sufficient
sunlight to make Solar PV a technically
viable option when coupled with some
form of energy storage (thermal storage
or batteries).
 The figure shows how the strength of
the solar resource (for Solar PV in
particular) varies across the globe.
 The black dots in the figure indicate areas
that could generate enough energy from sunlight to
completely power the planet for an entire year.
 Solar Energy Potential and Utilization
 The potential for the utilization of additional solar energy – and for solar to play a large
role in global energy production is vast.
 Most places on earth get sufficient sunlight
to make Solar PV a technically viable option
when coupled with some form of energy
storage (thermal storage or batteries).
 The figure shows how the strength of the
solar resource (for Solar PV in particular)
varies across the globe.
 The black dots in the figure indicate areas that
could generate enough energy from sunlight to
completely power the planet for an entire year.

Obvious problems with running the planet entirely on sunlight.

In order to electrify everything, we would need very large quantities of battery energy storage, and so forth.
 Solar Energy Potential (Indian Scenario)

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has planned a

detailed trajectory so as to meet the target of 100 GW by 2022.

• A capacity of 23.12 GW was installed up to July 2018.

• India has a good level of solar radiation, receiving the solar energy
equivalent of more than 5000 trillion kWh/yr.
Sun-Earth Relationship
 About Sun
• The sun is an average star. It has been burning for more than 4-billion years, and it will
burn at least that long into the future before erupting into a giant red star, engulfing the
earth in the process.

• Some stars are enormous sources of X-rays; others mostly generate radio signals.

• The sun, while producing these and other energies, releases 95% of its output energy as
light, some of which cannot be seen by the human eye.

• The peak of its radiation is in the green portion of the visible spectrum. Most plants and
the human eye function best in green light since they have adapted to the nature of the
sunlight reaching them.
 Sunlight reaching earth
• Sun releases a huge quantity of energy in terms of human capacity or need: Power
output per second is 3.86 x 1020 megawatts (MW).

• This energy fills the solar system, bathing the earth's atmosphere with a near constant
supply of 1.37 kilowatts per square meter (kW/m2).

• Not all of the direct sunlight incident on earth's atmosphere arrives at the earth's surface.
The atmosphere attenuates many parts of the spectrum.
 X-rays are almost totally absorbed before reaching the ground.
 A good percentage of ultraviolet radiation is also filtered out by the atmosphere.
 Some radiation is reflected back into space.
 Some radiation is randomly scattered by the atmosphere, which makes the sky look
blue.
Sunlight reaching earth
Solar Radiation
Solar Irradiance
 Estimation of solar constant
Solar constant may be obtained from the Stefan-Boltzmann law and a simple
geometrical argument involving the Sun-Earth distance 𝑅𝑆𝐸 and the radius of the Sun
𝑅𝑆 :
𝑆 = 𝑓𝑤 𝜎𝑇𝑆4
𝑅𝑆 2
where 𝜎 is Stefan’s constant 𝜎 = 5.67 × 10−8 W − m−2 − Kelvin−4 ; 𝑓𝑤 = is
𝑅𝑆𝐸
geometrical factor; 𝑇𝑆 is surface temperature of the sun (~ 5777 Kelvin).

4𝜋𝑅2
The amount of solar energy intercepted by earth = 𝑆 × ( ), where 𝑅 is Earth’s
2
radius (= 6371 Km).
Solar Irradiance
Solar Irradiance: definition of terms
Solar power
Peak sun hours (PSH)
Solar Power and Energy: Examples
Atmospheric Effects
Atmospheric Effects
 Air Mass
• It is the path length which light takes through the atmosphere normalized to the shortest
possible path length (that is, when the sun is directly overhead).

• The Air Mass quantifies the reduction in the power of light as it passes through the
atmosphere and is absorbed by air and dust

• Air mass is defined as:

1
𝐴𝑀 =
cos 𝜃
where 𝜃 is the angle from the vertical (zenith
angle). When Sun is directly overhead, AM is 1
Solar spectrum
Light in the earth's atmosphere is
selectively absorbed by certain elements,
resulting in chinks in the spectral
distributions AM1 and AM10.

Irradiance diminishes as the air mass

(AM) numbers increases, since less light
can penetrate the "thicker" atmospheres
associated with the sun's not being
directly overhead on a sparkling clear day
(AM1).

The light of the high-noon sun (and under

further specified conditions) passes
through an air mass of one (AM1).
Solar spectrum

• The intensity of the sunlight reaching

the ground weakens for sun angles
approaching the horizon since the rays
have more atmosphere, or air mass, to
penetrate.

• The peak intensity of sunlight at the

surface of the earth is about 1 kW/m2.
Collector orientation
Collector orientation
Solar Cell Basics
Solar Cell as pn-junction diode
• A solar cell, is an electrical device that converts the light
energy directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect

• It is a two terminal device which conducts like a diode in

the dark and generates a photovoltage when charged by
the sun.

• When the junction is illuminated, a net current flow

takes place in an external lead connecting the p-type and
n-type regions.

• In basic terms, a single junction silicon solar cell can

produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of
approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts
Solar Cell structure
 Solar Cell Operation
The operation of a photovoltaic (PV) cell
requires three basic attributes:

I. The absorption of light,

generating either electron-hole
pairs or excitons.

II. The separation of charge carriers

of opposite types by the action
of junction field.

III. The separate extraction of those

carriers to an external circuit.
Solar Cell parameters
I-V Characteristics
Solar cell is also a diode, but this is not biased
For a normal diode, the I-V to get current. Solar cell is a source of power
characteristics are: because of photovoltaic effect.

The direction of current in solar cell will not

Here, we have be from external battery, but it will be from
forward biased the diode to the load.
the diode to
get the current In the absence of light (dark conditions), the
current from the diode to the load is opposite
to the diode current, i.e. 𝐼 = −𝐼𝑑
Diode equation:
𝑞𝑉𝑑
𝐼𝑑 = 𝐼0 exp −1
𝑎𝑘𝑇 (load)
where 𝐼0 is saturation
current; 𝑎 is ideality factor,
which lies between 1 and 2.
 I-V Characteristics
In the presence of light, we have following circuit. Due to light, current from the solar cell is 𝐼𝑝ℎ . A
part of this current will be used in diode (𝐼𝑑 ) and remaining part will drive the load. Therefore.
𝑞𝑉
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑝ℎ − 𝐼𝑑 = 𝐼𝑝ℎ − 𝐼0 exp −1
𝑎𝑘𝑇

Increase in light intensity

I-V Characteristics
Short circuit current (𝑰𝑺𝑪 ): Current through
the solar cell when the voltage across the
solar cell is zero (i.e., when the solar cell is
short circuited.

Open Circuit voltage (𝑽𝑶𝑪 ): Maximum

voltage available from a solar cell, and this
occurs at zero current. 𝑉𝑂𝐶 may be found
from the I-V equation (by putting 𝐼 = 0):
𝑎𝐾𝑇 𝐼𝑝ℎ
𝑉𝑂𝐶 = ln 1 +
𝑞 𝐼0
 Fill factor • The short-circuit current and the open-
circuit voltage are the maximum current
and voltage respectively from a solar cell.

• However, at both of these operating points,

the power from the solar cell is zero.

• The "fill factor", is a parameter which, in

conjunction with 𝑉𝑂𝐶 and 𝐼𝑆𝐶 , determines
the maximum power from a solar cell.

• The FF is defined as the ratio of the

Geometrically, FF is the area of the largest rectangle maximum power from the solar cell to the
which will fit in the IV curve product of 𝑉𝑂𝐶 and 𝐼𝑆𝐶 :
𝑉𝑚𝑝 × 𝐼𝑚𝑝
𝐹𝐹 =
𝑉𝑂𝐶 × 𝐼𝑆𝐶
 Efficiency
• It is the most commonly used parameter to compare the performance of one solar cell to another.

• Efficiency is defined as the ratio of energy output from the solar cell to input energy from the sun

• The efficiency of a solar cell is determined as the fraction of incident power which is converted
to electricity. From the Fill factor expression, we see
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐹𝐹 × 𝑉𝑂𝐶 × 𝐼𝑆𝐶
Hence, efficiency is:
𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐹𝐹 × 𝑉𝑂𝐶 × 𝐼𝑆𝐶
𝜂= =
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑖𝑛
where 𝑃𝑖𝑛 is input power from sun which falls on the solar cell.

• In addition to reflecting the performance of the solar cell itself, the efficiency depends on the
spectrum and intensity of the incident sunlight and the temperature of the solar cell.

• Therefore, conditions under which efficiency is measured must be carefully controlled in order to
compare the performance of one device to another
 Solar Cell at a glance

A conventional crystalline silicon solar cell (as of 2005). The electrical contacts made from bus bars
(the larger silver-colored strips) and fingers (the smaller ones) are printed on the silicon wafer.
 How a Solar Cell is fabricated
1) Purification of Si: The silicon dioxide is placed into an electric arc furnace. A carbon arc is then applied to release
the oxygen. The products are carbon dioxide and molten silicon. This simple process yields silicon with one
percent impurity, useful in many industries but not the solar cell industry. Si is further purified by various other
processes
2) Making Single Crystal Silicon: The most commonly used process for creating the boule (it is shape) is called the
Czochralski method. In this process, a seed crystal of silicon is dipped into melted polycrystalline silicon. As the
seed crystal is withdrawn and rotated, a cylindrical ingot or "boule" of silicon is formed. The ingot withdrawn is
unusually pure, because impurities tend to remain in the liquid.
3) Making Silicon wafers: From the boule, silicon wafers are sliced one at a time using a circular saw. The wafers are
then polished to remove saw marks.
4) Placing electrical contacts: Electrical contacts connect each solar cell to another and to the receiver of produced
current. The contacts must be very thin (at least in the front) so as not to block sunlight to the cell. Metals such as
palladium/silver, nickel, or copper, etc. are used. After the contacts are in place, thin strips ("fingers") are placed
between cells. The most commonly used strips are tin-coated copper.
5) The anti-reflective coating: Because pure silicon is shiny, it can reflect up to 35 percent of the sunlight. To reduce
the amount of sunlight lost, an anti-reflective coating is put on the silicon wafer. The most commonly used
coatings are titanium dioxide and silicon oxide, etc.
6) Encapsulating the cell: The finished solar cells are then encapsulated; that is, sealed into silicon rubber or
ethylene vinyl acetate. The encapsulated solar cells are then placed into an aluminum frame that has a mylar or
tedlar backsheet and a glass or plastic cover.
Czochralski Crystal Growth Process
 Solar cell materials
• Solar cells can be made of
Single layer of light-absorbing material (single-junction) or
Multiple physical configurations (multi-junctions) to take advantage of various absorption and
charge separation mechanisms.

• Solar cells can be classified into first, second and third generation cells.
a) First generation cells—also called conventional, traditional or wafer-based cells—are made
of crystalline silicon, the commercially predominant PV technology, that includes materials
such as polysilicon and monocrystalline silicon.
b) Second generation cells: are thin film solar cells, that include amorphous
silicon, CdTe and CIGS cells and are commercially significant in utility-scale photovoltaic
power stations, building integrated photovoltaics or in small stand-alone power system.
c) Third generation solar cells: includes a number of thin-film technologies often described as
emerging photovoltaics—most of them have not yet been commercially applied and are still in
the research or development phase.
 Crystalline Silicon
• The most prevalent bulk material for solar cells is crystalline silicon (c-Si), also known as
"solar grade silicon“.

• Bulk silicon is separated into multiple categories according to crystallinity (mono-

crystalline and multi-crystalline) and crystal size in the resulting ingot, ribbon or wafer.

• These cells are entirely based on the concept of a p-n junction. Solar cells made of c-Si are
made from wafers between 160 and 240 micrometers thick.
 Mono-crystalline Silicon
• Monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si) solar cells are more efficient and more expensive than
most other types of cells.

• The corners of the cells look clipped, like an octagon, because the wafer material is cut
from cylindrical ingots, that are typically grown by the Czochralski process.
 Polycrystalline Silicon (polysilicon)
• Polysilicon consists of small crystals, also known as crystallites, giving the material its typical metal
flake effect.

• While polysilicon and multi-silicon are often used as synonyms, multi-crystalline usually refers to
crystals larger than 1 mm.

• Multi-crystalline solar cells are the most common type of solar cells in the fast-growing PV market
and consume most of the worldwide produced polysilicon.
 Thin film solar cells
• Unlike silicon-wafer cells, which have light-absorbing layers that are traditionally 350 microns
thick, thin-film solar cells have light-absorbing layers that are just one micron thick.
• Traditional solar cells use silicon in the n-type and p-type layers. The newest generation of thin-film
solar cells uses thin layers of either cadmium telluride (CdTe) or copper indium gallium deselenide
(CIGS) instead.
• Thin-film solar cells are fabricated by depositing several layers of a light-absorbing material, a
semiconductor onto a substrate - coated glass, metal or plastic.
• The materials used as semiconductors don't have to be thick because they absorb energy from the
sun very efficiently. As a result, thin-film solar cells are lightweight, durable and easy to use.
• Three main types of thin-film solar cells, depending on the type of semiconductor used:
1) Amorphous Silicon (a-Si)
2) Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)
3) Copper Indium Gallium Deselenide (CIGS)
 a-Si Solar cells
• a-Si is basically a trimmed-down version of the traditional silicon-wafer cell.
• a-Si cells suffer significant degradation in power output when they're exposed to the sun.
• Thinner a-Si cells overcome this problem, but thinner layers also absorb sunlight less efficiently.
• Amorphous silicon has a higher bandgap (1.7 eV) than crystalline silicon (c-Si) (1.1 eV), which
means it absorbs the visible part of the solar spectrum more strongly than the higher power
density infrared portion of the spectrum.
• These qualities/issues make a-Si cells
great for smaller-scale applications, such
as calculators, but less than ideal for
larger-scale applications, such as solar-
powered buildings.
 CdTe Solar cell
• Cadmium telluride is the only thin film material so far to rival crystalline silicon in cost/watt.
• However cadmium is highly toxic and tellurium (anion: "telluride") supplies are limited.
• The cadmium present in the cells would be toxic if released.
• However, release is impossible during normal operation of the cells and is unlikely during fires in
residential roofs.
 CIGS Solar cell
• CIGS has high absorption coefficient, hence can
strongly absorb the sunlight  a much thinner
film is required as compared to other
semiconductor materials.

• CIGS outperforms polysilicon at the cell level,

however its module efficiency is still lower, due
to a less mature upscaling

• Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) is

a direct band gap material.

• It has the highest efficiency (~20%) among all

commercially significant thin film solar cells.

CIGS cell on a flexible plastic backing

 From solar cells  PV system
Assemblies of solar cells are used to
make solar modules.

Multiple solar modules, all oriented

in one plane, constitute a solar
photovoltaic panel

A solar array generates solar

power using solar energy.

Solar cells are usually connected

in series and parallel circuits or
series in modules, creating an
additive voltage.
 Mismatch effect
• Mismatch losses are caused by the interconnection of solar cells or modules which do not have identical
properties or which experience different conditions from one another.

• Due to mismatch losses, the output of the entire PV module under worst case conditions is determined by the
solar cell with the lowest output.

• Example:
- Consider one solar cell is shaded while the remainder in the module are not.In this case, the power being
generated by the "good" solar cells can be dissipated by the lower performance cell rather than powering
the load. This in turn can lead to highly localised power dissipation and the resultant local heating may
cause irreversible damage to the module.
Mismatch loss in cells connected in series: In this case, mismatch in
the short-circuit current is more common, as it can easily be caused by
shading part of the module. This type of mismatch is also the most
severe.
For two cells connected in series, the current through the two cells is the same. The total
voltage produced is the sum of the individual cell voltages. Since the current must be the
same, a mismatch in current means that the total current from the configuration is equal to
the lowest current.
 Shading
• Shading is a problem in PV modules since shading just one cell in the module can reduce the power output
to zero
• The output of a cell declines when shaded by a tree branch, building or module dust.
• The output declines proportionally to the amount of shading. For completely opaque objects such as a leaf,
the decline in current output of the cell is proportional to the amount of the cell that is obscured.
 Shading
• A cell can be seen as a combination of a current generator and a diode.

• The photo current goes in the reverse direction of the diode. This means
that if one cell is partially shaded, it will produce less current than the
other cells in the string, and the other cells will try to push more current
through the poor cell than the poor cell deliver.

• This is however not possible since then the cell acts as a diode in the
reverse direction  the current produced in the poor cell will limit the
current in the string.

• Bypass diodes are used to avoid the current losses either to avoid the
restriction of the current.
 Hot spot problem
Hot-spot heating occurs when there is one low current
solar cell in a string of at least several high short-circuit
current solar cells.

If the operating current of the overall series string approaches the

short-circuit current of the "bad" cell, the overall current becomes
limited by the bad cell.

The extra current produced by the good cells then forward biases the
good solar cells. If the series string is short circuited, then the forward
bias across all of these cells reverse biases the shaded cell.

Hot-spot heating occurs when a large number of series connected cells cause a large reverse bias across the
shaded cell, leading to large dissipation of power in the poor cell.

Essentially the entire generating capacity of all the good cells is dissipated in the poor cell. The enormous power
dissipation occurring in a small area results in local overheating, or "hot-spots", which in turn leads to destructive
effects, such as cell or glass cracking, melting of solder or degradation of the solar cell.
 Bypass diodes
A bypass diode is in parallel with a number of cells in series connected in a PV module is useful to mitigate
the impacts of shading on P–V curve.

In the figure below, four bypass diodes are connected in parallel with four cells in series connected.

In normal conditions, i.e. when no shades affects to the PV-module, the diode is reverse biased (it does not
conduct) and each cell generates power.

However, when a cell is shaded the diode across the cell will start to conduct and therefore bypassed the
shaded cell.