Journal des Sciences

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S. MBODJI et al / J. Sci.Vol.6 , N2 (2006)

99

EQUIVALENT ELECTRIC CIRCUIT MATLAB SIMULINK OF A
BIFACIAL SOLAR CELL IN TRANSIENT STATE: APPLIED
MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECT


S.MBODJI
1
, A.LY DIALLO
1
, I. LY
1
. F. I. BARRO
2
, F. ZOUGMORE
2
, G.SISSOKO
1
(gsissoko@yahoo.com)
1
Laboratoire des Semiconducteurs et dEnergie solaire, Dpartement de Physique,
Facult des Sciences et Techniques, Universit Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, SENEGAL
2
Laboratoire des Matriaux et Environnement, Dpartement de Physique, UFR-SEA,
Universit de Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO


Rsum
Dans ce papier, nous prsentons une tude du rgime
transitoire obtenu par variation du point de
fonctionnement dune photopile bifaciale au silicium
de type n
+
-p-p
+
soumise un champ magntique
constant. La photopile bifaciale est connecte un
transistor Mosfet et est claire par une lumire
multispectrale constante.
Le rgime dynamique transitoire est observ entre deux
points de fonctionnement en rgime statique dpendant
de deux rsistances variables. Ceci permet davoir la
rponse transitoire en tout point de la caractristique I-
V de la cellule solaire du circuit ouvert jusquau court
circuit.
Dans le but de faire des simulations de ce rgime
transitoire avec Matlab Simulink, nous avons utilis un
modle de circuit lectrique quivalent de la photopile
en rgime statique et linfluence du champ magntique
sur le photocourant transitoire a t tudie. Nous
avons considr trois modes dclairement :
clairement par lmetteur, clairement par la face
arrire et lclairement simultan par les deux faces.
Ces simulations nous ont permis de proposer un circuit
lectrique quivalent de la photopile en rgime
dynamique transitoire obtenu par variation du point de
fonctionnement.


Abstract
The bifacial cell with an n
+
-p-p
+
structure and under
constant magnetic field is placed in a fast-switch-
interrupted circuit and submitted to a constant
multispectral illumination. The transient decay occurs
between two steady states through operating points
depending on two variables resistors; this allows us to
obtain a transient decay at any operating point of the I-
V curve of the solar cell, from the short circuit to the
open one. To perform the simulation with Matlab
Simulink, the bifacial cell has been replaced by an
equivalent electrical circuit and the influence of the
magnetic field on the transient photocurrent has been
studied. Three illumination modes have been
considered here: the front illumination, the back-side
illumination and the simultaneous illumination of both
front and back-side of the bifacial solar cell.
These simulations lead to an equivalent circuit of the
bifacial cell in transient state assuming that the
photocurrent is the diffused.

Mots cls
Bifaciale, Cellule solaire; Champ magntique.
Keywords
Bifacial, Solar cell; Magnetic field.



1. INTRODUCTION
This work presents a transient study of a
bifacial silicon solar cell under magnetic field
and submitted to constant white light (Fig. 1).
To perform the simulation with Matlab
Simulink, the bifacial cell in the experimental
setup [1] has been replaced by an equivalent
electrical circuit and the influence of the
magnetic field on the transient photocurrent
has been studied. This equivalent electrical
circuit includes the photocurrent source [2], the
device depletion capacitance, the inductance,
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100
the series resistance Rs

, and the shunt

resistance Rsh

. Rc is the external load.

2 THEORY
The excess minority carrier concentration is
obtained by solving the equation continuity
(Eq.1) with boundary conditions (Eq. 2 and 3)
which include interface states in the bifacial
solar cell.
t
t) (x,

t) (x,
x
t) (x,
D
2
2

(1)
D
*
and

represent respectively minority

carrier diffusion and lifetime under constant
magnetic field [3].
The boundary conditions are:
At the p-n interface ( x = 0 )
t) (0, Sf
x
t) (x,
D
0 x

=

=

(2)
and at the back side of the cell ( x = H )
t) (H, Sb
x
t) (x,
D
H x

=

=

(3)
Sf

is the junction recombination velocity

which takes into account the intrinsic
recombination velocity Sf
0
and Sb

is the back
surface recombination velocity.

Figure 1:Bifacial solar cell under constant
magnetic field
The steady state excess minority carrier density
is:

+ +
+ =
3
1 i
i i i
)] b x exp( x)) (H b exp( [ K
)
L
x
sinh( B )
L
x
cosh( A (x)

with:
Illumination mode
Front side illumination ( = fr) 1 0
Rear side illumination ( = re) 0 1
Simultaneous double
illumination ( = s)
1 1
K
i
is given by :
1
2
2
i i i
L
1
b D a K

(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=

where a
i
and b
i
are coefficients deduced from
modelling of the generation rate overall
radiations in the solar spectrum [4]
The subscript indicates how the solar cell is
illuminated: front side ( = fr), rear side ( =
re) or simultaneous illumination ( = s).
Constants A

and B

are determined by mean

of boundary conditions (Eq. 2) and (Eq. 3)
where the minority carrier density is replaced
with (Eq. 4).
(Eq. 1) and boundary conditions (Eq.2 and 3 )
constitute a typical Sturm-Liouvilles system
[5] from which we obtain the minority carriers
density in transient state:
=

n
n , c,
n , n ,
t)

1
(0)exp( (x)T X t) (x,


(5)
X
,n
and T
,n
(0) are deduced from

(x,t) by
normalization and Fourier transform.

c,,n
is the decay time constant given by :
2
n ,
n , , c
1 1

where
,n
is the eigenvalue of the
transcendental equation:
(4)
(6)
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101

+
=

Sb Sf D
) Sb (Sf D
)
D
H
tan(
2


(7)
To perform the simulation with Matlab
Simulink, the bifacial cell in the original setup
[1] has been replaced by an equivalent
electrical circuit and the influence of the
magnetic field on the transient photocurrent
has been studied.

Figure 2 :Solar cell equivalent Circuit with R1,R2
and the switch.

Figure 3 :Simulink model of the Solar cell
equivalent Circuit with R1,R2 and the switch

At time t<0 the solar cell is in parallel with the
resistor R2 giving the potential V2
corresponding to the operating point F2. At
time t=0, the fast switch begins turning on and
at time t>0 is completely turned on. It then
connects the resistor R2 in parallel with the
solar cell and the resistor R1; The voltage V2
drops from V2 to V1 corresponding to the
new operating point F1 as it can be seen on
Fig. 4.

Figure 4: Illuminated I-V curve
We present on Figures 5, 6 and 7 the transient
photocurrent decay for different solar cells and
different magnetic fields

Figure 5: Transient photocurrent decay : front side
illumination :B= 0 T, B=0.001 T,B =0.005 T

Figure 6 : Transient photocurrent decay : rear side
illumination : B= 0 T,B=0.001 T,B =0.005T

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Figure 7: Transient photocurrent decay :
simultaneous illumination : B= 0 T, B=0.001 T,
B =0.005 T
It is shown that the transient photocurrent
decreases if the magnetic field increases for
each illumination.
Based on Fig. 8 we can write the following
equation:
(t)) Ish (t) (Iph
C
1
C
(t) I
(t) I ) Rs (Rc (t) I L
. ..
H

= + +

(8)
Neglecting I
sh
(t), Eq. 8 becomes :
) t ( I
C
1
C
(t) I
(t) I ) Rs (Rc (t) I L
ph
. ..
H

= + +



where
t T B D q t J + =

)
1
( exp[ ) 0 ( ) (
0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ,

(10)
The series resistance Rs

and the capacitance

C

depend on the magnetic field [6-11]

Figure 8: Electrical equivalent circuit of the solar
cell in transient state

Solutions of equation (9) depend on the sign of
the descriminant expressed below:

=
C
L 4
) Rs Rc (
H 2

(11)
We only investigate solutions corresponding to
>0 and <0.
When >0 the solution can be expressed by:
) t . a exp( . K ) t . c exp( . 2 A ) t . b exp( 1 A ) t ( I + + =

(12)
where

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
C . L
1
L . 2
R
L . 2
R
b
H
2
H
2
0
H
0
,

+ =
1
a
0 ,

C L L
R
L
R
c
H H H

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
1
2 2
2
2
0 0
and R
0
= Rc-Rs
Constants A1 and A2 can be calculated for two
points : at the maximum current (dI

/dt = 0,
beginning of the decay) and when the current I
is approximately constant corresponding to the
end of the decay ( greater value of time, see
for example Fig. 6 ) I(t)=Is at t= ts.
Constants A
1
, A
2
and K depend on C

, Rs,

,0
, ts,

, L
H
and Rc. L
H
and

are fixed at
0,001H and 4,5s respectively
Based on the relation V

(t)= Rc.I

(t), we
plotted the photovoltage V

versus the time t

for each illumination mode.

Figure 9 : Transient photovoltage decay : front side
illumination (H=0.02cm,

= 4,5m)
(9)
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103


Figure 10: Transient photovoltage decay : rear side
illumination (H=0.02cm,=4,5m)

Figure 11: Transient photovoltage decay :
simultaneous illumination (H=0.02cm,

=4,5m)
Figures 9, 10 and 11 show that under the
influence of the magnetic field the
photovoltage decay increases when the solar
cell is illuminated by front side, rear side and
both front side and back-side.
In the case, <0 the solution can be expressed
by:
) t . a exp( . K )] t . sin( . ' A ) t . cos( . ' A )[ exp( ) t ( I
2 1 0
+ + =

(13)
where.
H
0
L . 2
0 R
=
,
2
H H
L . 2
0 R
C . L
1
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

A
1
and A
2
are calculated by the same way as
A1 and A2. Fig.12 to 14 present the transient
photovoltage versus the time t(s) when the
solar cell is illuminated respectively by front
side, back side and both front and back-side.

Figure 12 : Transient photovoltage decay : front
side illumination (H=0.02cm,

= 4,5m).
When is negative, the photovoltage is
sinusoidal for each illumination (Fig. 12 to 14)
and we notice three parts: the first is where the
photovoltage increases with the magnetic field,
in the second the transient photovoltage
doesnt follow the increase of the magnetic
field and the last part is where the photovoltage
is approximately constant for the three
magnetic field.
Figure 13 : Transient photovoltage decay: rear
side illumination (H=0.02cm,=4,5m).

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104
Figure 14: Transient photovoltage decay :
simultaneous illumination (H=0.02cm,=4,5m).
Thus, the case >0 is more interesting than the
case <0.
The exponential fit of the transient
photovoltage when >0 can give values of b, c
and a. Value of Rc is fixed, Rs

is negligible
compared to Rc for front side illumination and
for simultaneous illumination of both front and
back-side; b and c can be taken as a system of
equations which system lead to the values of
L
H
and C

for these two illumination modes.

With the value of a the lifetime

is calculated
assuming that the eigenvalue of the
fundamental mode
,0
is known [1].

3. CONCLUSION.
In this work, we presented a theoretical study
of a bifacial solar cell under constant magnetic
field and under constant illumination.
The effect of the magnetic field has been
exhibited on both photocurrent and
photovoltage for each illumination mode.
Based on theoretical and simulation results and
Fig. 5,6 et 7the electrical parameters L
H
, C

, R
S

and the minority carriers lifetime

are
determined via parameters a, b and c for each
illumination mode.

4. REFERENCES
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th

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