ABSTRACT:

The whole world is now running out of conventional fuels and is exploring for
renewable energy resources. The concept of using nanotechnology for the production of
cells and preparation of multijunction solar cells, which increases efficiency, are the
attracting features of scientists today. In the near future the solar energy is going to supply
energy to the remote places of the world and PV market is going to increase to a great
extent and its application ranges from providing power to the space crafts and
commercially used automobiles.
This paper mainly gives an idea of using solar energy as a renewable energy. The
various technologies like nanotechnology and gratzel cells to improve the efficiency of
the solar cells and to decrease the costs is the main idea to be dealt now.
KEYWORDS: Gratzel cell, Efficiency, Nanotechnology, Multijunction
INTRODUCTION:
Scientists have created awareness about the pollution due to the conventional
energy sources and the renewable energy is gaining its importance nowadays. It has been
estimated that coal and oil resources will be depleted within the 50 years if they are used
as in the present state. These have made people’s mind to think about the environmentally
friendlier renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources are clean, unlimited
occurs naturally and can be available where electricity and gas networks does not reach.
They reduce green house effect to a great extent. The renewable energy can be explained
as, which may be regenerated or can be made available all the time. In the near future all
the conventional energy sources will be replaced by the renewable energy sources and the
footsteps for these processes have been already started.
RENEWABLE ENERGY TYPES:
The renewable energy is available in a lot of ways. Solar energy, wind energy,
tidal energy, biomass and fuel cells are some of the emerging trends in renewable energy.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

WIND
SOLAR ENERGY FUEL CELLS BIOMASS TIDAL ENERGY
ENERGY

Researches are going on to make them more efficient and in this paper the new
technologies in solar energy has been discussed.

The chart
shows the present
status of energy used.
It can be shown that
conventional energy
sources are dominating
now and the renewable
energy sources are
emerging with a
percent of 2 on the total energy consumption.

SOLAR ENERGY:
 Sun is a powerful source of energy. Earth receives approximately 1.7*1017 watts of
energy from sun. Even if one percent of the energy falling is transferred into electric
energy with an efficiency of 10 percent then it will be sufficient for supplying the energy
needs of all the people in the world. It is ideal for proving independent electric power and
lighting in isolated rural areas. The photovoltaic cells which are useful for the conversion
of solar energy into electric energy offer many advantages. It is highly reliable and it
needs little maintenance. There is virtually no environmental impact. And as it is modular
it is flexible in size and its applications.
PHOTOVOLTAICS- HISTORY AND OPERATION:
The photoelectric effect was discovered in the early 1800’s by prof. Becquerel but
the first silicon solar cell was made on the Bell laboratories in the year 1954. Their
efficiencies ranged to about 4.5%. They find their applications in the spaceships and they
provided the little voltage needed for the transmitters for communication purposes.
The operating principle of the photovoltaic can be explained with the quantum mechanics.
When sunlight is absorbed by the materials the solar energy, knocks the electron loose
from their atom and allow to flow through materials to produce current.
The current is produced only when a photon of appropriate energy so as to knock
off the electron from the atom falls on the cells. If a lesser energy photon is used then
there is no flow of electron. And if higher energy protons fall then heat will be produced
in the junction. For silicon the band gap value is around 1.1eV.
.
The photovoltaic cell mainly consists of the following. 1. An electrically
conductive grid for flow of current. 2. One or two layers for antireflection coating.
3. Electrode in contact with base layer for completion of circuit. Normally there will be a
loss due to the reflection of the light rays falling on the silicon cells. So to reduce them
antireflection coating is being used. The reflection is reduced by means of acid or dry
etching. In the new technology silicon nitride is applied in front surface to act as a
antireflection coating and it also serves to improve the efficiency. The reflection can also
be minimized by constructing the cells in pyramid structure so that incoming light is fully
utilized. The following diagram shows the layers of a photovoltaic cell. The coating is
given at a temperature of approximately 150 degree by the method of chemical vapour
deposition. The result is that reflection is reduced to 8% in comparison with 30% of the
bare silicon. After the cell is fabricated it is embedded in transparent ethyl vinyl acetate
fitted with aluminium or stainless steel frame and then covered with transparent glass.
CRYSTALLINE SILICON CELLS:
In the early days, the photovoltaic cell was manufactured only from the crystalline
silicon with pure silicon as the substrate. Nowadays these type of cells account for about
86 percent of the world market. The efficiency of these cells is more around 20 percent.
The wafers used are produced with the conventional czhralski method used for production
of semiconductors. The wafers are then cut to around 200 µm thick. These cells are very
perfect but their use is limited by the commercial cost available. Its cost is due the
production techniques which involves heating up to a temperature around 1400 degree
celsius at a high vaccum. So to make the solar cells as commercially available amorphous
silicon is used.

THIN FILM TECHNOLOGY:

In the thin film technology the amorphous silicon is used for producing extremely
thin photovoltaic cells. The amorphous silicon has a very high absorption coefficient and
hence it absorbs a lot of solar energy. Nowadays these cells occupy about 13 % of the
total world market. Compared to the crystalline silicon cells the efficiencies of these cells
are less than 10 percent. But they can be used commercially at very low costs. These
types of cells can be deposited on a wide range of substrates both rigid and flexible such
as glass and plastics and so it can be used to produce fold away modules. As it can be
deposited at low temperatures (100 to 350 degrees) over several substrates (graphite,
glass, metal) it can form hetero junction and multi layer structures.
 Material used Level of efficiency in Level of practical
lab (%) efficiency (%)
Monocrystalline Approximately 24 14 to 17
Polycrystalline Approximately 18 13 to 15
Amorphous Approximately 13 7 to 10

The limitation of the amorphous silicon is due to Staebler-wronoskie effect (SWE)

which is the creation of new defects, which acts as recombination centers and reduces the
current. This can be reduced by diluting the silane (SiH4) source gas used for deposition
of amorphous silicon with hydrogen.

NANOTECHNOLOGY:
Reducing the size of the semiconductor crystals to the nanometer scale can offer a
number of advantages in photovoltaic compared with using large crystal counter parts.
Nanocrystals can be extremely sensitive to radiation and rather inexpensive to produce
due to their batch production. Less expensive forms of silicon, including material with
smaller crystal domain sizes and non-crystalline forms have been studied for years and
continue to be investigated. The nanotechnology involves two processes. “Top bottom”
and “Bottom up” approaches. In the Top bottom approach the larger materials are broken
down into nano sized elements. In the Bottom up research the atoms and molecules are
made to deposit and form the nano sized elements.
A number of methods are available in the production of nanoparticles. We have
discussed some of them here. Dye-sensitized solar cells,and using organic polymers such
as fulleranes are the main technologies which are gaining attention nowadays.
Scientist use ionically self assembled monolayers (ISAM) process to fabricate opto-
electronic devices. The process allows molecule thick layers of oppositely charged
material to build on a base structure. One of the layers is made up of carbon molecules
known as fulleranes and another is positive charged polymer. Fulleranes have high
electron affinity. So they will accept electrons easily from photo excited molecules of a
conducting polymer, creating polymer with negative charge. The resulting material is
used for the preparation of the solar cell. The fullerene component does not contribute
significantly to the absorption of light by the PV device. Hence, the concentration of this
component should be as low as possible in order to allow for a thin film to absorb most of
the incoming light. However, if the fullerene component has to serve as the electron
transport network, it has to be present in an amount above the percolation threshold. This
percolation threshold would be lowered drastically if well-defined, soluble, and
processable polymer forms of fullerenes would be applied. The preparation of such
polymers is also subject of present investigations. At present, the CP’s (Conducting
polymers), used in PV device research, have not been optimized for absorbing the solar
spectrum of light. Important parameters for CP's to be useful are: chemical purity,
regularity, processability, band gap, ionization potential, stability, charge carrier mobility,
assembling sites, availability, and, eventually, cost of production. Optimizing the (nano)
morphology of blends of CP's, a CP with a fullerene derivative, or mixtures of three
components, is a new field with enormous potential for plastic PV devices. Device
stability, although expected to improve with increasing efficiency, is a major concern for
molecular opto-electronic devices in general. Much can be learned from closely related
areas of research (LED's, photodiodes, molecular IC's, NLO devices, etc.) Plastic solar
cells can be envisioned to come in new formats, like in transparent (using IR light for PV
only) or colored, semi-transparent windows. Flexible and lightweight PV foil, that can be
cut to the desired format, and that can be produced using relatively cheap methods like
spaying or printing techniques, could find widespread application if it is stable for at least
a number of years.
The dye sensitized cells are also called as Gratzel’s cell. In place of a solvent-
electrolyte system, which may leak or evaporate from large solar panels, Grätzel's
research group made use of an imidazolium selenocyanate ionic liquid and measured
conversion efficiencies on the order of 8%. The process, which serves to bridge the
particles electrically so that nanoporous TiO2 can function as an electron carrier, is a key
step in fabricating inexpensive dye-sensitized solar cells. Unlike conventional cells made
from silicon, in dye-sensitized solar cells, light-absorption and charge-separation
processes occur in separate molecular layers. Grätzel notes that separating the functions
leads to simplified cell designs and reduces the need for ultra-high-purity semiconductors,
which in turn lowers the cost of the cells. Another key difference is that in dye-sensitized
cells, the semiconductor film is highly porous, and its pores are filled with an electrolyte
or an organic hole conductor, leading to junctions with enormous contact area between
interpenetrating materials.
As light shines on the thin-film cells, the sensitizer molecules, often members of the
ruthenium-polypyridine family, undergo photo excitations and inject electrons into the
semi conducting oxide film--typically titanium dioxide (TiO2, a negative-charge
conductor). The dye molecules return to their original state via electron transfer from a
redox material (a positive-charge conductor), which is then reduced at a counter electrode.

MULTI JUNCTION PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS:

It has been stated that only when photons of appropriate energy falls on the cells
the efficiency will be more. So to use all the photons falling in the solar cells scientists are
going for multi junction solar cells. A maximum of four junctions can be used. These type
of cells are also called as tandem cells or cascade cells. When light falls on the first cell
the current is produced in it and then it passes to the second one. Thus the size required
for these are very thin in the range of micrometer. Recently the multijunction
photovoltaics reach an efficiency of 32.5% which is the highest value till now reached.
These cells can be made in two ways. Monolithic stacked and mechanical stacked. In
monolithic stacking the materials for two cells are grown sequentially and interconnection
is done in between them. In mechanical stacked type they are stacked together with a
transparent adhesive. Since deposition do not cause more they are potentially inexpensive
to fabricate.

This diagram shows the type of multijunction layer formed with Gallium
Arsenide, indium and phosphide. A comparison between the latest developed solar cell
with efficiency 32.5 and the normal diesel generator as below

PARAMETER DIESEL GENERATOR PV SOLAR PANEL

EFFICIENCY 10 TO 24% 32.5%
INITIAL INVESTMENT US $3500 US $4500
FUEL 1.8 lit/hr No fuel
EFFECTIVE COST OVER 5 US $5900 US $4500
YEARS
CONTINUED EXPENDITURE Avg of us$40 per month Free
NOISE LEVEL 54-73 dB Soundless

MARKET FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS:

Since from 1970’s, the production of PV is constantly increasing very rapidly.
Now Japan is the leading producer in the photovoltaic modules. A lot of private
companies have been indulged in this industry with the funding from the government.
The chart shows the total amount of PV voltage produced for the past five years. It can be
seen that the production has tripled in the five years from 200MW to 600MW. The report
on the production of the photovoltaic modules for each country states that Japan is leading
others.

SOLAR ENERGY IN INDIA:

In India there is a separate ministry for the promotion of the non-conventional
energy resources. As India is a tropical country it receives solar energy on 300 clear
sunny days. So in a country like India the use of photovoltaic cells will be very useful.
In India nearly 80,000 villages do not receives electricity from the mains. So solar energy
can be used in these remote places. The demand between the energy produced and the
energy demand is very more in a country like India. This can be met only with the help of
renewable energy sources like solar energy. The total energy installed in India has been
given here.

SOURCES INSTALLED(MW)
Wind power 1870
Biomass 537.17
Solar PV 20(per square area)
Hydro power 25.75

APPLICATIONS:
The photovoltaic cells find its extensive use in the satellites and spacecrafts. Solar
powered cars are cars which are powered by an array of photovoltaic cells. The electricity
created by the solar cells either directly powers the vehicle through a motor, or goes into a
storage battery. Even if a vehicle is completely covered in solar cells, it will only receive
a smaller amount of solar energy and will be able to convert only a small amount of that
to useful energy. Because of this, most solar powered vehicles are only used educational
 tools or to compete in various races for solar
powered vehicles.

The diagram
shows the use of a pv array in a grid connected load or to a off grid
application in which a inverter is used for the conversion of the dc
current produced into ac current and then feeding to ac load and
rectifiers are used for the storage of current in the battery. This
type of model can be used in remote places where the passage of
electric current is difficult.

SCOPE AND FUTURE OF PV:

The limitations of the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells is mainly due to
1) Shading of cell due to current collecting electric contacts and
2) Internal electric resistance of the cell. These can be reduced to a greater extent when
the size of the cells is reduced. So nanotechnology will play its major role in the future in
the production of cost effective efficient solar cells.
An innovative idea is that when multijunction silicon cells are made in the
micrometer sized particles the efficiency will reach the peak. The costs of PV systems
have come down to 25 folds in last 20 years. So in the future, cost will still reduce to a
lower value.
CONCLUSION:
We have seen about the new technologies involved in the fabrication of solar cells
so that the cost is decreased to a greater extent and its efficiency is increased. People
should have awareness about the latest market trends of photovoltaic cells and their
energy scenario. A little attention has been given to the applications of photovoltaics also.
PV’s capacity, simplicity, versality, reliability, low environmental impact and its
decreasing costs will make it become an important source of power within next 50 years.

REFERENCES:
[1]W.SHEPERD, D.W.SHEPHERD, “ ENERGY STUDIES”
[2]DAVID MERRID, RICHARD MARSHALL “ENERGY-PRESENT AND FUTURE
OPTIONS” VOL1
[3]B.S.MAGAL “SOLAR POWER ENGINEERING
[4] www.solarbuzz.com
[5] www.solaraccess.com
[6] www.pvresources.com
[7] www.eere.com

BY,
 T.ANANDRAJ
R.SOMESWARAN
DEPT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
KUMARAGURU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

.
Email: anand_realfriend@rediffmail.com
Somesss2004@rediffmail.com