INTERPRETATION/GRAPH/ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION

ANALYSIS/GRAPH

The applied voltage is in the forward bias direction. The curve shows the turn-on and the
buildup of the forward bias current in the diode. Without illumination, no current flows
through the diode unless there is external potential applied. With incident sunlight, the
I/V curve shifts up showing that there is external current flow from the solar cell to a
resistive load as shown with the red curve.
VOC as function of bandgap for a cell with AM 0 and AM 1.5. The VOC increases with
bandgap as the recombination current falls. There is drop off in V OC at very high band
gaps due to the very low ISC.
In an ideal device every photon above the bandgap gives one charge carrier in the
external circuit so the highest current is for the lowest bandgap. Therefore, the short
circuit current density is inversely proportional to the light source.
INTERPRETATION:
A solar cell is a semiconductor PN junction diode. The large surface area indicated in light
blue is exposed to incident light energy. Solar cells are usually coated with anti-reflective
materials so that they absorb the maximum amount of light energy. Normally no external
bias is applied to the cell. When a photon of light is absorbed near the PN junction a hole
/ electron pair is produced. This occurs when the energy of the photon is higher than the
energy band-gap of the semiconductor. The built in electric field of the junction cause
the pair to separate and head toward the respective + and - terminals. The energy from
the light causes a current to flow in an external load when the cell is illuminated.
A typical voltage vs. current characteristic, known as an I/V curve, of a PN diode without
illumination is shown in green in figure 2. The applied voltage is in the forward bias
direction. The curve shows the turn-on and the buildup of the forward bias current in the
diode. Without illumination, no current flows through the diode unless there is external
potential applied. With incident sunlight, the I/V curve shifts up showing that there is
external current flow from the solar cell to a resistive load as shown with the red curve.
The open-circuit voltage, VOC, is the maximum voltage available from a solar cell, and this
occurs at zero current. The open-circuit voltage corresponds to the amount of forward
bias on the solar cell due to the bias of the solar cell junction with the light-generated
current.
It depends on the saturation current of the solar cell and the light-generated current.
While Isc typically has a small variation, the key effect is the saturation current, since this
may vary by orders of magnitude. The saturation current, I0 depends on recombination
in the solar cell. Open-circuit voltage is then a measure of the amount of recombination
in the device.
The short-circuit current is the current through the solar cell when the voltage across the
solar cell is zero (i.e., when the solar cell is short circuited).
The short-circuit current is due to the generation and collection of light-generated
carriers. For an ideal solar cell at most moderate resistive loss mechanisms, the short-
circuit current and the light-generated current are identical. Therefore, the short-circuit
current is the largest current which may be drawn from the solar cell.
Conclusion:
Solar (or photovoltaic) cells convert the sun’s energy into electricity. Whether they’re
adorning your calculator or orbiting our planet on satellites, they rely on the photoelectric
effect: the ability of matter to emit electrons when a light is shone on it.
Silicon is what is known as a semi-conductor, meaning that it shares some of the
properties of metals and some of those of an electrical insulator, making it a key
ingredient in solar cells.
Sunlight is composed of miniscule particles called photons, which radiate from the sun.
As these hit the silicon atoms of the solar cell, they transfer their energy to loose
electrons, knocking them clean off the atoms. The photons could be compared to the
white ball in a game of pool, which passes on its energy to the colored balls it strikes.
Freeing up electrons is however only half the work of a solar cell: it then needs to herd
these stray electrons into an electric current. This involves creating an electrical imbalance
within the cell, which acts a bit like a slope down which the electrons will flow in the same
direction.
Creating this imbalance is made possible by the internal organization of silicon. Silicon
atoms are arranged together in a tightly bound structure. By squeezing small quantities
of other elements into this structure, two different types of silicon are created: n-type,
which has spare electrons, and p-type, which is missing electrons, leaving ‘holes’ in their
place.
When these two materials are placed side by side inside a solar cell, the n-type silicon’s
spare electrons jump over to fill the gaps in the p-type silicon. This means that the n-
type silicon becomes positively charged, and the p-type silicon is negatively charged,
creating an electric field across the cell. Because silicon is a semi-conductor, it can act
like an insulator, maintaining this imbalance.
As the photons smash the electrons off the silicon atoms, this field drives them along in
an orderly manner, providing the electric current to power calculators.
It has two types of equivalent circuit: short circuit current and open circuit voltage.
The short-circuit current Isc is the current that flows through the external circuit when
the electrodes of the solar cell are short circuited. The short-circuit current of a solar cell
depends on the photon flux incident on the solar cell, which is determined by the
spectrum of the incident light. For standard solar cell measurements, the spectrum is
standardized to the AM1.5 spectrum. The Isc depends on the area of the solar cell. In
order to remove the dependence of the solar cell area onto Isc, often the short-circuit
current density is used to describe the maximum current delivered by a solar cell. The
maximum current that the solar cell can deliver strongly depends on the optical properties
of the solar cell, such as absorption in the absorber layer and reflection.
The open-circuit voltage is the voltage at which no current flows through the external
circuit. It is the maximum voltage that a solar cell can deliver. Voc corresponds to the
forward bias voltage, at which the dark current density compensates the photocurrent
density. Voc depends on the photo-generated current density assuming that the net
current is zero,

where the approximation is justified because of Jph >> J0

The quation shows that Voc depends on the saturation current density of the solar cell
and the photo-generated current. While Jph typically has a small variation, the key effect
is the saturation current, since this may vary by orders of magnitude. The saturation
current density, J0, depends on the recombination in the solar cell. Therefore, Voc is a
measure of the amount of recombination in the device.