PHOTOVOLTAIC

Photovoltaics (PV) is a term which covers the conversion of lightinto electricity using semiconducting
materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect.A typical photovoltaic system employs solar panels,
each comprising a number of solar cells, which generate electrical power. PV installations may be
ground-mounted, rooftop mounted or wall mounted. The mount may be fixed, or use a solar
tracker to follow the sun across the sky.

ADVANTAGES

 Generates no pollution
 No greenhouse gas emissions once installed
 Scalability in respect of power needs

PRINCIPLE

A photovoltaic cell comprises P-type and N-type semiconductors with different electrical
properties, joined together. The joint between these two semiconductors is called the "P-N
junction."
Sunlight striking the photovoltaic cell is absorbed by the cell. The energy of the absorbed
light generates particles with positive or negative charge (holes and electrons), which move
about or shift freely in all directions within the cell.
The electrons (-) tend to collect in the N-type semiconductor, and the holes (+) in the P-type
semiconductor. Therefore, when an external load, such as an electric bulb or an electric
motor, is connected between the front and back electrodes, electricity flows in the cell.
 Kind Conversion Reliability Cost Energy Other Major applications
efficiency production characteristics

Single-crystal- Abundant Satellite use

silicon cell 14?17％ records of use Power-generation
use

Polycrystalline- Suitable for Power-generation

silicon cell 12?15％ volume use
production in
future

Amorphous- Tends to Consumer-product

silicon cell 6?9％ deteriorate use (Electric
rapidly. Suitable calculators,
for flexible wristwatches, etc.)
products

Single-crystal- Heavy and Satellite use

compound cell fragile
(GaAs)
Polycrystalline- Low material Consumer-product
compound cell availability. use
(CdS, CdTe, Some materials
CuInSe2,etc.) contain
environmental
pollutants.
 Photovoltaic
Photovoltaic (PV) is a term which covers the conversion of light
into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the effect. A
typical photovoltaic system employs solar panels, each comprising a number
of solar cells, which generate electrical power. PV installations may be
ground-mounted, rooftop mounted or wall mounted. The mount may be
fixed, or use a solar tracker to follow the sun across the sky.

 PRINCIPLE

1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semi-
conducting materials.
2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms as
they are excited. Due to their special structure and the materials in
solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction.
The electronic structure of the materials is very important for the
process to work, and often silicon incorporating small amounts
of boronor phosphorus is used in different layers.
3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount
of direct current (DC) electricity

The most commonly known solar cell is configured as a large-area p-n

junction made from silicon. When a photon is absorbed, its energy is given to
an electron in the crystal lattice. Usually this electron is in the valence band.
The energy given to the electron by the photon "excites" it into
the conduction band where it is free to move around within the
semiconductor. The network of covalent bonds that the electron was
previously a part of now has one fewer electron. This is known as a hole. The
presence of a missing covalent bond allows the bonded electrons of
neighboring atoms to move into the "hole," leaving another hole behind, thus
propagating holes throughout the lattice. It can be said that photons
absorbed in the semiconductor create electron-hole pairs.

A photon only needs to have energy greater than that of the band gap in
order to excite an electron from the valence band into the conduction
band. Much of the solar radiation reaching the Earth is composed of photons
with energies greater than the band gap of silicon. These higher energy
photons will be absorbed by the solar cell, but the difference in energy
between these photons and the silicon band gap is converted into heat
rather than into usable electrical energy
  Equivalent Circuit of a Solar Cell

An ideal solar cell may be modelled by a current source in parallel

with a diode; in practice no solar cell is ideal, so a shuntresistance and
a series resistance component are added to the model

Characteristic equation

From the equivalent circuit it is evident that the current produced by the solar
cell is equal to that produced by the current source, minus that which flows
through the diode, minus that which flows through the shunt resistor
where

 I = output current (ampere)

 IL = photogenerated current (ampere)
 ID = diode current (ampere)
 ISH = shunt current (ampere).

The current through these elements is governed by the voltage across them