P-N Junction: Solar Cells

Solar cells are in fact large area semiconductor

diodes. Due to photovoltaic effect energy of
light (energy of photons) converts into
electrical current. At p-n junction, an electric
field is built up which leads to the separation of
electrons and holes. At incidence of photon
stream onto semiconductor material the
electrons are released, if the energy of photons
is greater than the energy gap. Contact to a
solar cell is a metal contact. If the circuit is
closed, meaning an electrical load is connected,
then direct current flows.

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 P-N Junction: Solar Cells
Solar cell efficiency is limited due to several factors. The
highest efficiency of silicon solar cell is around 23 %, by
some other semiconductor materials (III-Vs) up to 30 %,
which is dependent on wavelength and semiconductor
material. Self loses are caused by metal contacts on the
upper side of a solar cell, solar cell resistance and solar
radiation reflectance.

2
 P-N Junction: Solar Cells
Crystalline Si solar cells are usually Si wafers, about
0.3 mm thick, sawn from Si ingot with diameter of 10
to 15 cm. They generate approximately 35 mA of
current per cm2 area (together up to 2 A/cell) at
voltage of 550 mV at full illumination. Lab solar cells
have the efficiency of up to 20 %, and commercially
produced solar cells up to 15 %. A photovoltaic
module is the basic element of each photovoltaic
array. It consists of many jointly connected solar cells.

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 P-N Junction: An Ideal
Photovoltaic Generator

The simplest way to describe a photovoltaic generator is

to depict it as an ideal current source, which produces a
current (Iph) approximately proportional to the incident
light power, in parallel with a diode, as shown here. 4
 P-N Junction: An Ideal
Photovoltaic Generator
The V-I equation of the simplified equivalent circuit could
be derived from Kirchhoff's current law

IPh - Photo current; ID - Diode current; IS - Diode reverse

saturation current; m - Diode "ideally factor" m = 12;
VT 26 mV at 25C.

5
 P-N Junction: An Ideal
Photovoltaic Generator
Derived from Kirchhoffs first law the equation for the
extended I-V curve could be achieved.

0 = IPh - ID - Ip - I.

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P-N Junction: I-V characteristic of
the solar cell
Isc

Voc
7
 P-N Junction Solar Cell: Power,
efficiency, and fill factor
If a solar cell gets short circuited, a short circuit current Isc
occurs which is about equivalent to the photo current (Isc
IPh), the terminal voltage is zero. If no load is applied, the
so called open circuit voltage (Voc) could be measured at
the terminal. In both cases the electrical output power is 0
W. An irradiated cell is providing power output for a
voltage region between 0 V and Voc . A point of operation
where output power is at its maximum is preferred. This
specific operation point is called MPP (maximum power
point), while voltage times current is maximal here.

8
P-N Junction: I-V characteristic of
the solar cell
The efficiency of a solar cell could be calculated from the
power at MPP, the cell area AC and the irradiance E as
follows

Also another value plays a role in photovoltaics, the so

called fill factor FF

If the I-V curve would be rectangular (that is the ideal

case), the fill factor would be 1. The fill factor is a quality
consideration, for real cells it is between 0.75 and 0.85.
9
 The solar cell efficiency
The solar cell efficiency is calculated using a simple
formula V pmp I pmp

E (input radiance) Ac
The figures of merit for the solar cell are:
1. The open circuit voltage (Voc) - the maximum voltage
obtainable at the load under open-circuit conditions
2. The short circuit current density (Jsc) - the maximum
current through the load under short-circuit conditions
3. The fill factor (FF), is thus defined as (VmpImp) /
(VocIsc), where Imp and Vmp represent the current density
and voltage at the maximum power point. 10
 The solar cell efficiency
The figures of merit for the solar cell are:
1. The open circuit voltage (Voc) - the maximum voltage
obtainable at the load under open-circuit conditions
2. The short circuit current density (Jsc) - the maximum
current through the load under short-circuit conditions
3. The fill factor (FF), is thus defined as (VmpImp) /
(VocIsc), where Imp and Vmp represent the current density
and voltage at the maximum power point.
V pmp I pmp V pmp I pmp Voc I sc FF
FF
Voc I sc E (input radiance) Ac E (input radiance) Ac

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P-N Junction: I-V characteristic of
the solar cell
1. Influence of irradiance (light intensity) on the I-V curve

2. Influence of temperature on the I-V curve

The short circuit current is increasing a little bit at rising

temperatures, while losses of the open circuit voltage is
about ten times higher (-0.4%/K). Therefore the power
output is decreasing for increasing temperatures. The
power loss factor is around 0.3-0.5 % per degree C, so for
an increase of 30C in temperature the power is decreasing
by 9-15 %. 12
 The solar cell module
At a solar module many cells are connected in series in
order to achieve a higher voltage. Most commercial
modules have between 36 and 40 cells.

13
Experiment for recording the I-V
characteristics or the PV-module

Wenham, S. R. Green, M. A., Watt, M. E.: Applied

Photovoltaics. Center of Photovoltaic Systems and Devices,
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 1994.
14
Solar Cells

15
Solar Cells

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Electro-magnetic Spectrum

UV

Radio x-, rays

Visible

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 The following false-color images show
the Sun at X-Ray and UV wavelengths

The Sun at X-Ray wavelengths The Sun at UV wavelengths

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Solar Radiation Spectrum

Si

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20
Emission Spectrum and Temperature

According to the Stephan-

Boltzmann equation, a
small increase in the
temperature of a radiating
body results in a large
amount of additional
radiation being emitted.
21
Emission Spectrum and Temperature

The wavelength of
maximum emission is
inversely proportional to
its absolute temperature.
This phenomenon is often
called Wien's Law. 22
Solar Cells

23
 Solar Cell PSPICE Simulation
-1
2.50 10
1k R 3
R =0.001 Ohm
-1 S
2.00 10

D 1N 4002 D 1 R 2 -1

Current (A)
1.50 10
R =2 Ohm
S
I1 0 .0 0 1 1.00 10
-1

I
V1 5.00 10
-2

-0 .2 A d c
1Vdc 0.00 10
0

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

0 0

24
 Solar Cells
The Sunceram II cells for indoor use thin-film
compound semiconductors, and they are ideal for
powering loads such as calculators which use very low
levels of power and which are used under other types of
indoor lighting.

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Solar Cell Development
First Generation
Single crystal silicon wafers (c-Si)
Second Generation
Amorphous silicon (a-Si)
Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)
Cadmium telluride (CdTe)
Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) alloy
Third Generation
Nanocrystal solar cells
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells
Gretzel cells
Polymer solar cells
Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC)
Fourth Generation
Hybrid - inorganic crystals within a polymer matrix 26
P-N Junction: Photodiodes and
Photodetectors
Schematic representation
of depletion layer width
and energy band
diagrams of a
p-n junction under
various biasing
conditions.
a) Thermal-equilibrium
condition. (b) Forward-
bias condition. (c)
Reverse-bias condition.

27
 P-N Junction: Photodiodes
Definition: semiconductor devices with p-n or p-i-n
structure for the detection of light.

Photodiodes are frequently used for the detection of light.

They are semiconductor devices which contain a p-n
junction, and often an intrinsic (undoped) layer between n
and p layers. Devices with an intrinsic layer are called
p-i-n or PIN photodiodes. Light absorbed in the depletion
region or the intrinsic region generates electron-hole
pairs, most of which contribute to a photocurrent.

28
 P-N Junction: Operation Modes
Photodiodes can be operated in two very different modes:

(1) Photovoltaic mode: like a solar cell, the illuminated

photodiode generates a voltage which can be measured.
However, the dependence of this voltage on the light
power is rather nonlinear, and the dynamic range is quite
small. Also, the maximum speed is not achieved.

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 P-N Junction: Operation Modes
Photoconductive mode: here, one applies a reverse voltage to
the diode (i.e., a voltage in the direction where the diode is not
conducting without incident light) and measures the resulting
photocurrent. The dependence of the photocurrent on the light
power can be very linear over six or more orders of magnitude
of the light power, e.g. in a range from a few nano-watts to
tens of milli-watts for a silicon p-i-n photodiode with an active
area of a few mm2. The magnitude of the reverse voltage has
nearly no influence on the photocurrent and only a weak
influence on the (typically rather small) dark current (obtained
without light), but a higher voltage tends to make the response
faster and also increases the heating of the device.
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 Photodiode I-V curve

Current-voltage characteristics of a photodiode for different optical

powers. In photovoltaic mode (see the line for a 1-k load resistor), the
response is rather nonlinear. In photoconductive mode, a very linear 31
response is achieved.
 P-N Junction: Photodiodes
The most important properties of photodiodes are:

* responsivity, i.e., photocurrent divided by optical

power related to the quantum efficiency, dependent on
the wavelength
* active photodiode area
* maximum allowed photocurrent (usually limited by
saturation)
* dark current (in photoconductive mode, important
for detection of low light levels)
* speed, i.e. bandwidth, often influenced by the
junction capacitance
32
 P-N Junction: Photodiodes
The quantum efficiency of a photodiode is the fraction of
the incident (or absorbed) photons which contribute to the
photocurrent. The quantum efficiency of a photodiode can
be very high in some cases more than 95% but
significantly varies with wavelength. Apart from a good
internal efficiency, a good quantum efficiency requires
good suppression of reflections e.g. with an anti-reflection
coating.

33
 P-N Junction: Photodiodes
The speed (bandwidth) of a photodiode is typically limited
either by electrical parameters (capacitance and external
resistor, RC-limited performance) or by internal effects
such as the limited speed of the generated carriers.
Highest bandwidths of tens of gigahertz are usually
achieved with small active areas (diameters well below 1
mm) and small absorption volumes. Such small active
areas are still practical particularly for fiber-coupled
devices, but they limit the achievable photocurrents to the
order of 1 mA or less, corresponding to optical powers of
about 2 mW or less. Larger active areas with much higher
photocurrents are used to detect low-level light, but at the
expense of much lower speed. 34
 P-I-N Junction: High Efficiency,
Fast Photodiodes
A p-i-n photodiode (also called PIN photodiode) is a
photodiode with an intrinsic (i) (i.e., undoped) region in
between the n- and p-doped regions.

The intrinsic region absorbs

most of the photons, and
carriers generated therein can
efficiently contribute to the
photocurrent.

35
 P-I-N Junction: High Efficiency
Fast, Photodiodes
Compared with an ordinary
p-n photodiode, a p-i-n
photodiode has a thicker
depletion region, which allows
a more efficient collection of
the carriers and thus a larger
quantum efficiency, and also
leads to a lower capacitance
and thus to higher bandwidth.
The fastest p-i-n photodiodes have bandwidths of the
order of tens of GHz. They have rather small active
areas (with diameters of a few hundred microns). 36