Introduction To PV PDF

CREST MSc Flexible & Distance Learning Series Solar Power 1
Unit 4 – Introduction to
Photovoltaics
Aim
The aim of this unit is to explore the processes involved in converting sunlight into
electricity using semiconductors. It describes how efficiently this process can be
done, the underlying principles of pn junction solar cells, and losses inherent to solar
cell operation.
Learning Outcomes
After working through this unit, you should be able to:
 Explain the photovoltaic process.
 Describe the basic concepts of semiconductor physics.
 Explain the important terms used when describing the operation or

characteristics of a PV cell.
 Quantify and characterise radiation that can be absorbed by a given semi-

conductor
 Calculate the maximum photo-current that a PV cell can deliver.
 Describe the characteristics of a semiconductor under equilibrium conditions
 Calculate the applied voltage required to cause a given current to flow in

forward bias
 Derive an expression for the maximum power operating point of an ideal solar
cell
 Explain in qualitative terms what happens to a solar cell when the temperature
or the radiation intensity changes
 Draw a schematic diagram showing the design and materials used in a typical
PV cell
©CREST 2014 Page 4.1 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

Unit 4 Contents
Page No.
4.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PV ........................................................ 4.4
4.2 SEMICONDUCTORS ................................................................... 4.5

4.2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4.5
4.2.2 GENERATION, RECOMBINATION AND TRANSPORT .......................................... 4.7
4.2.3 DOPING ...................................................................................................... 4.9
4.3 THE P-N JUNCTION SOLAR CELL .......................................... 4.11

4.3.1 THE P-N JUNCTION: HOW IT WORKS ........................................................... 4.11
4.3.2 THE FERMI ENERGY AT EQUILIBRIUM .......................................................... 4.12
4.3.3 THE BUILT-IN VOLTAGE ............................................................................. 4.13
4.3.4 DEPLETION WIDTH .................................................................................... 4.13
4.3.5 DARK CURRENT ........................................................................................ 4.13
4.3.6 PHOTO-CURRENT AND SPECTRAL RESPONSE ............................................. 4.14
4.3.7 OPERATING CONDITIONS ........................................................................... 4.16
4.3.8 CELL PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY ........................................................ 4.17
4.3.9 MAXIMUM POWER ..................................................................................... 4.17
4.3.10 EFFICIENCY ............................................................................................... 4.20
4.4 PERFORMANCE LOSSES IN NON IDEAL SOLAR LOSSES . 4.21

4.4.1 INCOMPLETE ABSORPTION OF THE INCIDENT LIGHT ...................................... 4.22
4.4.2 NON-RADIATIVE RECOMBINATION OF PHOTO-GENERATED CARRIERS ........... 4.22
4.4.3 PARASITIC RESISTANCES ........................................................................... 4.22

4.4.4 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT ................................................................................ 4.23
4.4.5 EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND IRRADIATION ............................................. 4.24

4.4.5.1 TEMPERATURE ............................................................................................................4.24
4.4.5.2 IRRADIATION ...............................................................................................................4.25
4.5 CELL DESIGN AND MATERIALS ........................................... 4.26

4.5.1 DEVICE STRUCTURE .................................................................................. 4.26
4.5.2 SOLAR CELL DESIGN ................................................................................. 4.26
4.5.3 SOLAR CELL MATERIALS ........................................................................... 4.26
4.5.4 OTHER JUNCTIONS .................................................................................... 4.28

4.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PV

In basic terms, a photovoltaic solar cell produces electricity when exposed to
sunlight. In more detail, solar photovoltaics rely upon the photoelectric effect: when a
photon of energy h interacts with matter it is able to give up its energy to promote an
electron to a higher energy level. If the excited electron can be prevented from
returning immediately to its ground state, its increased electrical energy may be
harnessed. This may be to do electrical work by delivering a current to a load as in a
photovoltaic solar cell, or to do electrochemical work by changing the electrochemical
potential energy of some species as in photosynthesis.
For efficient photovoltaic energy conversion the following are required:
 A high probability of photon absorption.
 A charge separation mechanism for removing the excited electron before it

naturally recombines with the vacancy it left behind. This can be effected by
some kind of interface or junction where different electronic or electrochemical
properties attract the electron irreversibly away from the point of excitation.
 Electronic transported to move the separated charge to an external circuit

where its electrical potential energy can be exploited.
The three mechanisms described above and shown below in Figure 1, are provided
by the semiconductor p-n junction, which is the classical model of a solar cell. In this
system, electrons are excited across the band gap of a semiconductor, and charge
separation is achieved by a charged p-n junction between layers of semiconductor of
different electronic properties. Although in this lecture only the solid state p-n
junction will be considered, the principles apply equally to other types of photo-
converter based on other types of junction. To understand how a semiconductor
solar cell works, it is important to first have an understanding of semiconductors and
how they interact with light.
Excited state
Means of
charge
separation
Ground state
Figure 1. Excitation, Separation and Transport.

4.2 SEMICONDUCTORS
4.2.1 Introduction
A semiconductor is characterised by a range of forbidden energies for electrons,
known as the band gap, which separates valence band states, which are normally
full, from conduction band states, which are normally empty. Materials with a band
gap in the region of 1 eV are known as semiconductors, because their conductivity is
strongly affected by temperature and purity due to the bandgap, as opposed to
insulators that are wider band gap materials, which seldom or never conduct. The
bandgap itself is also temperature dependent such that at T = 0 an intrinsic
semiconductor is an insulator.
The band gap arises from a crystal structure where all valence electrons are used in
bonding, leaving no electrons freely available for conduction (i.e. an empty
conduction band). The atoms in crystalline silicon, for example, form a tetrahedral
structure where all four valence electrons are used in bonds with neighbouring Si
atoms. Imperfect crystals that contain broken bonds – for instance at surfaces or
grain boundaries – or impurity atoms may have energy states in the band gap that
also affect the semiconductor behaviour.
Figure 2. Bond picture of intrinsic semiconductor.

Conduction band
Bandgap ~1 eV
Valence band
Figure 3. Band picture of intrinsic semiconductor.
A semiconductor becomes conducting when injection of energy promotes electrons

into the conduction band where the electrons are free to move (or be ‘scattered’) to
adjacent empty energy levels. At the same time, the vacancies, called holes, left
behind in the valence band can move behaving like virtual charge carriers. At room
temperature, in the dark, only a tiny fraction of electrons have enough thermal energy
to cross the band gap. This fraction depends on temperature (T) and band gap (Eg)
E 2 kT
and varies like e g . In a semiconductor the product of the concentration of
conduction band electrons, n, and valance band holes, p, varies like:

Eg kT
np  ni2  Nc N v e
where Nc, Nv are the densities of states in the conduction and valence bands and,
like Eg, are properties of the material. ni is known as the intrinsic carrier density.
Notice how the concentration of mobile carriers increases exponentially with

increasing temperature or reducing band gap. (k = 1.38.10-23 JK-1 is Boltzmanns
constant, which relates thermal energy to temperature.)
In intrinsic semiconductors the number of free electrons and holes is necessarily

equal, as the creation of an electron in the conduction band creates a matching hole
in the valence band. This condition of intrinsic semiconductors can be written as:
n  p  ni
 Eg kT
np  ni2  Nc N v e
We can also write:
 E E f 
  c 
n  Nc e  
kT
 E E v 
  f 
p  N v e  kT 
Where Ef is the Fermi Energy.
Note. The carrier concentration varies with the distance between the
conduction/valence band edge (Ec/Ev) and the Fermi Energy.
The band gap is important because it enables excited electrons to remain in higher
energy levels for long enough to be exploited to form electric current. If electrons
were simply promoted through a continuum of energy levels as in a metal, for
example, they would very quickly decay back down to their ground state through a
series of intermediate levels. The abundance of empty levels at intermediate energy
means that the probability of an exited electron being scattered to a lower energy
state within the thermal energy kT of the original level is high. At room temperature,
this ‘thermalization’ of carriers to the band edge occurs in femtoseconds. When an
electron is excited across a band gap, it quickly decays to the lowest energy state in
the conduction band (the conduction band edge) but the next stage - decay across
the band gap to a vacant site in the valence band - is much slower.

~fs
c. b.
~s
v. b.
~fs
Figure 4. Thermalization and Recombination.
4.2.2 Generation, Recombination and Transport

If the semiconductor is exposed to light, then some of those photons with energy
greater than the band gap will be absorbed to promote electrons across the band
gap. This is called photo-generation. The probability of photo-generation is
described by the optical absorption spectrum (E): a fraction .dx of the photons of
energy E entering a slab of thickness dx will generate electron-hole pairs. The
absorption spectrum “turns on” at the photon energy equal to the band gap. This
turn-on point is known as the absorption edge, which leads to a cut-off wavelength
beyond which the semiconductor does not absorb or create the photogenerated
carriers necessary for solar cell operation.
The absorption coefficient α(λ), is wavelength dependent.
semiconductor
I
Transmitted
Absorbed photogeneration
thermalization
Reflected
x
Figure 5. Absorption, Reflection and Transmission.
Generation rate G(λ, x)
G, x      1  R e    x
Where Φ(λ) = number of incident photons per second per unit area.

The maximum cut-off wavelength λ for photon absorption is related to bandgap

through:
hc 1.24
 max   m
E g E g eV 
Beyond the cut-off wavelength, i.e. λ>λmax, semiconductors are transparent.
In addition to the cut-off behaviour, semiconductors may be strong (direct gap) or

weak (indirect gap) absorbers, depending on the particular band structure of the
crystal. Semiconductors with a direct bandgap, such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs),
have a sharp absorption edge, whereas indirect semiconductors, such as silicon,
have a less abrupt absorption edge.
1.00E+06
8.00E+05
Absorption (cm^-1)
6.00E+05
GaAs
4.00E+05 Si
2.00E+05
0.00E+00
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Photon Energy (eV)
Figure 6. Absorption spectra of silicon(indirect) and gallium arsenide (direct).
Generation of an e-h pair merely requires that an electron be excited from valence to
conduction band. It doesn’t depend upon the energy of that photon, except in that
the energy must at least be equal to the band gap. When photons of energy greater
than the bandgap are absorbed, they generate electron-hole pairs with higher kinetic
energy, but that energy is quickly lost through thermalization, and only Eg of potential
energy remains to be collected. Once promoted, electrons may either be transported
or recombined.
In the absence of any mechanism to separate the charges, this process of photo-
generation will normally be followed by recombination. Recombination may be
radiative (the return of an electron to a vacant valence band state together with the
emission of a photon) or non-radiative (the electron decays via defect states in the
band gap and its energy is given up as phonons, i.e. heat). In poor quality material
with high defect density, non-radiative recombination can be very fast. The trick of
the photovoltaic device is to collect and transport the excited electron before it
recombines.

N o n -ra d ia tive ra d ia tive
c. b.
v. b .
Figure 7. Recombination.
Mobile electrons and holes are transported within the semiconductor by two
mechanisms: they diffuse, or spread out, along concentration gradients; and they drift
under the influence of an electric field. Drift is the process by which carriers move,
when a potential difference is applied to the sample, in order to reduce their electrical
potential energy. Diffusion is the rearrangement of electrons or holes to equalise the
concentration and reduce the statistical potential energy. In the absence of both
concentration gradient and electric field there is no net movement of carriers.
4.2.3 Doping
Another way of increasing the population of mobile electrons and holes is to
introduce impurity atoms that contribute more, or fewer, electrons to the crystal than
the native atoms. This process is known as doping. ‘Donor’ atoms contribute extra
electrons that are less well bound than the usual valence electrons, since they are
not needed in bonding. Less energy is required to promote one of these donor
electrons into the conduction band and, consequently, the donor states can be
represented as states in the band gap (see Figure 8 below). Semiconductors doped
with donor atoms are called n-type since they have an excess of negative carriers
over positive.
c.b. c.b. c.b.

Ef
donor level
Ef acceptor level
Ef
v.b. v.b. v.b.
intrinsic n type p type
Figure 8. n and p type semiconductors.
‘Acceptors’ are atoms that contribute too few electrons to the lattice and therefore,
which with little energy can trap an electron to release vacancies or holes into the
valence band. Acceptor states also appear as states in the band gap close to the
valence band edge (Figure 8). These p-type semiconductors contain an excess of
positive carriers, holes.

A useful quantity for describing the concentration of electrons and holes at any point
in the semiconductor is the Fermi energy Ef, which is the centre energy of the
symmetric Fermi probability function, which dictates the probability of electrons and
holes occupying the energy states in the conduction and valence bands. As the
Fermi probability is symmetric, the Fermi energy position in the band gap governs the
relative concentrations of electron and holes in the conduction and valence bands. In
an intrinsic (i.e. pure) semiconductor, Ef lies roughly in the middle of the band gap,
there are equal electron and hole concentrations. In n-type material, Ef lies closer to
Ec, so there are more electrons, and in p-type material Ef lies closer to Ev. so there
are more holes.
n  Nc e  Ec  Ef  kT and
p  N v e  Ef  Ev  kT
where Ec and Ev are the energies of the respective band edges.
At equilibrium, i.e. conditions of no electrical bias and no light, Ef is constant

everywhere and determines the local electron and hole population through. The
concept of the Fermi energy is useful for analysing device performance, and will be
covered in more detail in the Advanced Solar Power option.
When the semiconductor is not at equilibrium, e.g. when exposed to light or electrical
bias, then the populations of n and p are disturbed from their equilibrium values.
These disturbances can be described in terms of quasi Fermi levels for n and p, Efn
and Efp such that
 E fp  E v  kT
n  Nc e  Ec  Efn  kT and p  N v e
But Efn and Efp are no longer equal due to the non-equilibrium situation.
Equilibrium Under bias
n0 electrons >>n0 electrons

Efn >Ef
Ef
Efp < Ef
p0 holes >>p0 holes
Figure 9. Fermi levels at and away from equilibrium.

4.3 THE P-N JUNCTION SOLAR CELL

In a semiconductor solar cell, a junction
between two regions of different p n
electronic properties provides the driving
force that removes photo-generated
charges from their point of creation. In
principle, there are many ways of
providing such a device: in the natural
process of photosynthesis, for instance,
excited electrons are pulled through a
photosynthetic membrane by
electrochemical forces. In a crystalline
semiconductor the p-n junction provides
an electrostatic force by joining two Figure 10. The p-n Junction.
regions of different doping types.
4.3.1 The p-n Junction: How it works.

Suppose that a layer of p-type
semiconductor and a layer of n-type Ef
material are brought together to
create a p-n junction. Then, on one
side of the junction between the two Ef
regions, there is an excess of N-type P-type
electrons and on the other, an Ec
excess of holes creating a
concentration gradient across the
junction. The natural response is Ef
for the carriers to diffuse across the Ev
junction, from high concentration to Electric
low concentration, so as to reduce Field
the carrier concentration gradient
(i.e. holes will diffusion from p to n
and electrons will diffuse from n to Ionised Doners
Charge Density
p). In such a situation, the carriers ++

diffusing across the junction leave ++
behind a layer of fixed charge (due ++
to the now ionised impurity atoms) - -
- -
on either side. This space charge - -
sets up an electric field that Ionised Acceptors
opposes further migration across
the junction, stopping the diffusion
process. A dynamic equilibrium Figure 1: Charge Depletion and Band
balancing the diffusion and Bending in a p-n Juntion.
electrostatic forces is reached. The
region around the junction is called the depletion region since it is now depleted of
free carriers.

4.3.2 The Fermi Energy at Equilibrium

Consider electrons on the n-type side. As mentioned earlier, mobile electrons and
holes are transported within the semiconductor by two mechanisms: they diffuse
along concentration gradients; and they drift under the influence of an electric field.
In other words, a current will flow in response to electric fields and concentration
gradients as described by the current equation.
n
Jn  Drift  Diffusion  q nn   nkT
x
μv = mobility (cm2v-1s-1)
n = carrier concentration (cm-3)
ξ = electric field (vm-1)
q = electronic charge = 1.6 x 10-19C
Earlier we also noted that carrier concentration can be expressed in terms of the
Fermi energy:
  Ec  E f 
n  Nc exp 
 kT 
Which, by differention and substitution into the current equation, leads to relation
between the gradient of the Fermi energy and current.
n n  E c E f 
     
x kT  x x 
n  E f 
    qE  
kT  x 
E
 Jn   n n f
x
By definition, at equilibrium there is now current flow, i.e. Jn = 0
Therefore:
E f
0
x
Showing that Ef is constant at equilibrium.
Similarly for holes:
E f
Jp   pp 0
x

However, out of equilibrium, Ef is not constant. If Ef is not constant, then a current

will flow.
4.3.3 The Built-in Voltage

When the diffusion effect is exactly cancelled by the built-in electric field of the
junction, the junction is at equilibrium and the Fermi level is constant. The built in
bias is related to the n and p type doping levels through:
 
kT  NdNa 
Vbi  ln 
q  n2 
 i 
By applying an external electrical bias we can raise the Fermi level on one side with
respect to the other and vary the potential drop across the junction.
4.3.4 Depletion Width

The width of the depletion region is governed by the relative doping levels as given
by:
1
 2  N  N d   2
w    a  Vbi 

 q  NaNd  
Where Na and Nd are the densities of the acceptor and donor atoms on either side of
the junction.
   o r  o  8.85  10 12 Fm 1  r  10
4.3.5 Dark Current

In the dark, this asymmetrical junction works as a diode, admitting current freely
under forward bias and blocking current under reverse bias. When the n side is
biased positively with respect to the p side, the electrostatic barrier to current flow is
reduced to qVbi  V  , carriers diffuse (or are injected) into the region of the junction,
and produce a current which varies like e qV kT
.
At reverse bias, the depletion region is depleted of carriers and only a small number
of carriers reach the junction, where they are pulled across by the electric field. This
reverse or leakage current saturates at some value Io (see Figure 13 overleaf). For
an ideal diode the dark current-voltage behaviour is described by:

Idark  Io e qV kT  1 

Current
Bias
Figure 12. Biasing EQ

Reverse Bias Forward Bias
and dark current flows.
Vbi + Vrev Vbi - Vfwd

Vbi
EF
EF
EF
  
Jdiffusion Jdiffusion Jdiffusion

Jdrift Jdrift Jdrift
+  +  + 
n +
+
+



p n +
+
+



p n +
+
+



p
+ +
Figure 13. Dark I-V Characteristic.

4.3.6 Photo-current and Spectral Response
Under illumination by light with E > Eg, electron-hole pairs are generated in the
semiconductor. Those that are created close enough to the junction (in fact, within a
diffusion length) are pulled apart by the electric field. Once the electron reaches the
n side and the hole reaches the p side, the probability of recombination is small and
the carriers diffuse towards the contacts. This build up of charge causes a potential
difference at the contacts. If the contacts are connected together a photo-current
flows. If connected across a load, the current flows through the load and does work.
Photo-current works in the opposite direction to dark current.

p-type
-
+
n-type
hfEg
Figure 14. Photo Current Flow.
The photo-current generated in a cell of area A is given by:
IL  A bE SRE dE 


where b(E) is the spectral irradiance (W m-2 per unit energy ) and SR(E) is the
spectral response (A W-1) both for light of energy E.
Spectral Response (SR) is the amps of electricity delivered to an external circuit per
watt of incident light of a given energy. It is a property of the material and of the
device structure but does not depend on the incident spectrum. Therefore, it is a key
quantity in predicting solar cell performance under different conditions. A related
quantity is the Quantum Efficiency (QE), which is the probability that an incident
photon of energy E will deliver one electron to the external circuit.
SR depends upon the absorption coefficient of the solar cell material and the
efficiency of current transport in the device. At long wavelengths, SR is zero
because low energy photons are not absorbed. At short wavelengths, SR falls off
because although photons are absorbed the carriers are generated too close to the
front surface, and too far from the junction, to be separated and collected. At
intermediate wavelengths, the SR should be high, limited only by the reflectivity of
the device. A good solar cell has an SR that is well matched to the solar spectrum.

Irradiance or SR
AM1.5
SR of GaAs cell
0 1 2 3 4 5
Photon energy (eV)
Figure 15. Spectral Response of GaAs Cell Compared to the Solar Spectrum.
4.3.7 Operating Conditions

When the terminals are connected together the photo-current (IL) has its maximum
value, the short circuit current Isc, or, per unit cell area, the short circuit density Jsc1.
When a load is present a potential difference appears between the contacts. This
potential difference is like a forward bias applied to the junction, and the photo-
current is now modified by a contribution from the diode current that acts in the
opposite direction. When the contacts are isolated, (a load of infinite resistance) the
potential difference has its maximum value, the open circuit voltage Voc. This is
equivalent to the condition when the dark current and photo-current exactly cancel
out.
The overall current voltage response of the cell can be approximated as the sum of
the photo-current and the dark current. If we choose the sign convention that photo-
current is positive, the cell current is:
I  IL  Io e qV kT  1  
or, in terms of current density J = I/A
J  JL  Jo e qV kT  1  
This is known as the ideal diode equation2. The equivalent circuit is a current
generator in parallel with a diode.
1
Current density J and current I are often used almost interchangeably in equations, but it should be remembered
that they are different due to the area (A), i.e. I=JA. Current density is a useful factor because it allows the
performance of different sized PV devices to be compared independently of the area of the device.
2
Often the opposite sign convention is used for the diode equation both in the literature and text books. You
should always be care to keep track of which convention is being used when referring to multiple sources.

Dark current
Light current
Current
Bias
Figure 16. I-V Characteristic of Ideal Diode.
4.3.8 Cell Performance and Efficiency

The key performance characteristics of a solar cell are its short circuit current density
Jsc, its open circuit voltage Voc, its Fill Factor FF and power conversion efficiency .
The operating regime of the solar cell is the regime (bias in the range 0 to Voc) in
which the cell delivers power. The cell power density P = JV reaches a maximum at
the cell’s operating point or Maximum Power Point (MPP). This occurs at some
voltage VMPP with a corresponding current IMPP.
4.3.9 Maximum Power

Power  P  VI
or
  qV  
P  VIL  VIo  exp   1
  kT  
At the maximum operating point dP dV  0 :
I
 IV   V
dP
dV V
I
I V 0
V
I
 IMPP   VMPP
V

Using the solar cell equation (and noting expqVm kT   1 )
qV
dI I q
 0 e kT
dV V kT
qVMPP  qV 
 IMPP  I0 exp MPP 
kT  kT 
At the maximum power operating point we have I  IMPP , and V  VMPP . By

evaluating the solar cell equation at I  IMPP , and V  VMPP we know that:
 qVMPP 
IMPP  IL  Io  e kT  1
 
 
qVMPP
but since e kT  1
qVMPP
IMPP  IL  Io e kT
and, as a side result
qVMPP
e kT  IL  IMPP
Io
By equating the equations for IMPP from above we have the relation:
qVMPP qVMPP
qVMPP kT  I  I e kT
Io e L o
kT
qVMPP
e kT  I qVMPP  I   I
o o L
 kT 
qVMPP
kT  IL
e
Io  qVMPP  1
 kT 
Taking the natural log of both sides of the equation produces:
 
qVMPP  IL 1 
 ln  
kT  Io qVMPP  1
 kT 
Recalling a few log identities, ln AB  ln A  ln B , ln A B  ln A  ln B and ln1 A   ln A ,

which allows the previous equation to be rewritten as

kT  IL  kT  qVMPP 
VMPP  ln 
 q ln kT  1
q  Io   
From the solar cell equation it can be shown (see later) that:
kT  IL 
Voc  ln 
q  Io 

allowing the final equation to rewritten as:
kT  qVMPP
VMPP  Voc  ln  1
q  kT 
qVMPP
Now by using the earlier results e kT  IL  IMPP and
Io
I q qV
IMPP  o VMPP exp( MPP )
kT kT
qVMPP
 IMPP  IL  IMPP 
kT
Which can be simplified to the final result:
 kT 
IMPP  IL 1  
 qVMPP 
Combining the results for IMPP and VMPP:
 PMPP  IMPP  VMPP

 kT  qV  kT 
 IL  Voc  ln1  MPP   
 q  kT  q 
The fill factor (FF) is defined by:
I V
FF  MPP MPP
IL Voc
Maximum power:
PMPP  VMPPIMPP
(Area of rectangle)

Optimum load resistance
VMPP
RL 
I MPP
Maximum
Jsc power point
Jm
Current
Power
Vm Voc
Bias
Figure 17. Current-voltage and power-voltage curves.
4.3.10 Efficiency
The efficiency  of the cell is the power density delivered at operating point as a
fraction of the incident light power density:
J MPPVMPP

Pinc
Efficiency is related to Jsc and Voc using the fill factor, FF,
J scVoc FF

Pinc
All of these quantities should be defined for a particular spectrum. Under different
spectra, the photo-current and therefore the I-V characteristic will be different. The
Standard Test Condition (STC) for solar cells is the Air Mass 1.5 spectrum, an
incident power density of 1,000 W cm-2, and a temperature of 25 C. [Cell
performance characteristics are published in the journal Progress in Photovoltaics
and on the World Wide Web at http://www.pv.unsw.edu.au/eff.html.]

Voc is typically around 0.5 to 1 V, depending on the semiconductor. Larger values

are not feasible for a single junction, since we need a semiconductor that absorbs
visible light (photon energy 1 - 3eV) and Voc is limited by the band gap. Since higher
voltages are required for most practical applications, solar cells are integrated in
series into modules that deliver a standard voltage of 12 V.
Jsc at STC is around 20 - 40 mA cm-2, again depending on the material. Wider band
gap materials give higher Voc but lower Jsc, and vice versa for low band gaps. The
optimum band gap for the AM1.5 solar spectrum is around 1.3 - 1.4 eV.
The ideal diode has a FF of 0.86, while for real cells, values are typically 0.7 to 0.8.
The efficiency of a solar cell in AM1.5 has a theoretical limit of around 31%. In
practice, efficiencies are much lower. The best cell has  = 25%, while commercial
modules typically have  = 15 %. Achieving high performance with solar cells
demands high material quality, which is generally costly.
4.4 PERFORMANCE LOSSES IN NON IDEAL

SOLAR CELLS
The main reasons why real solar cells do not achieve ideal performance are as
follows:
Shaded by Reflected
contacts Rs
n
Rsh
p
Not absorbed
Figure 18. Sources of loss in solar cells.

4.4.1 Incomplete Absorption of the Incident Light

Photons are reflected from the front surface or from the contacts or pass through the
cell without being absorbed.
4.4.2 Non-radiative Recombination of Photo-generated Carriers.

Electron hole pairs recombine before being separated or carriers are trapped at
defect sites and subsequently recombine. This can occur at the surfaces where the
defect density is higher, or near to the junction where the populations of electrons
and holes are similar and recombination is more likely. An increased probability of
recombination in the bulk material is represented as a reduced diffusion length.
Recombination reduces both the photo-current, through the probability of carrier
collection, and the voltage, by increasing the dark current.
Recombination through trap states in the band gap affects the dependence of the
dark current on the applied bias. The effect can be represented as a change in the
exponent of the term I o (e  1) to I o (e
qV / kT
 1) where m is the diode ideality
qV / mkT
or quality factor. In materials with high recombination rates, m is typically around 2.

The effect of a higher ideality factor is to reduce the fill factor (see Figure 19 below).
m=1
m=2
Current
Bias
Figure 19. Effect on I-V curve of higher ideality factor.
4.4.3 Parasitic Resistances

The series resistance (Rs) arises from the resistance of the semiconductor layers to
current flow - particularly through the front surface to the contacts - and from
imperfect connections at the contacts. Series resistance is one of the limiting factors
in practical cell performance, since eliminating the series resistance effect degrades
the cell performance in other ways. It is a particular problem at high current
densities, for instance under concentrated light.

In addition, a shunt or parallel resistance (Rsh) arises from leakage of current through
the cell, around the edges of the device and between contacts of different polarity.
Series and shunt resistances reduce the fill factor, as shown overleaf in Figures 20
and 21. For an efficient cell we want Rs to be as small and Rsh to be as large as
possible.
Low Rs
Moderate Rs
Current
High Rs
Bias
Figure 20. Effect of Series Resistance.
High Rsh
Moderate Rsh
Low Rsh
Current
Bias
Figure 21. Effect of Shunt Resistance.

4.4.4 Equivalent Circuit
Including the parasitic resistances the diode equation becomes:
 
J  J photo  J o e q V  JARs  kT  1 
V  JARs
Rsh
The equivalent circuit becomes as shown below in Figure 22.

Rs
+
Rsh V
Jphoto Jdark
-
Figure 22. Equivalent circuit for non-ideal diode.
4.4.5 Effects of Temperature and Irradiation

4.4.5.1 Temperature
At higher temperature the band gap of a semiconductor shrinks. This increases the
equilibrium population of electrons and, hence, the dark saturation current density Jo.
The reduced band gap also increases the photo-current, since lower energy photons
can now be absorbed, but the increased dark current reduces Voc faster than Jsc is
increased, and a net reduction in efficiency results. The effects of temperature on
the I-V curve can be seen below in Figure 23.
Current
Temp
Bias
Figure 23. Effect of temperature on I-V curve.
For a silicon solar cell, the short circuit current, open circuit voltage and the efficiency
are as follows:
short circuit current:
dJ sc
 0.1Am  2 C 1
dT

open circuit voltage:
dVoc
 2.2mV C 1
dT
efficiency:
d
 0.5%C 1
dT
4.4.5.2 Irradiation
Increasing the intensity of the incident light increases the photo-current. It is fair to
assume that the short circuit current Jsc varies linearly with concentration factor up to
high irradiation levels. At the same time, increasing intensity increases the open
circuit voltage. If we rearrange the ideal diode equation to obtain an expression for
Voc:
kT  J sc 
Voc  ln  1
q  Jo 
it can be seen that, at constant Jo and T, Voc increases approximately logarithmically

with Jsc. Therefore, since both voltage and current increase, increased light intensity
increases cell efficiency. The J-V curve at different intensities is shown below in
Figure 24.
increasing
intensity
maximum
power line
Current
Bias
Figure 24. J-V curve at different intensities.
All of this depends upon the cell temperature remaining constant under irradiation. In
fact, unless we deliberately cool the cell (which requires work), concentration
inevitably raises the temperature. The positive effect of irradiation then competes

with the negative effects of series resistance and temperature, so that the cell has an
optimum efficiency at some finite concentration. This is seldom more than a few
hundred suns.
Cell performance under increased intensity is relevant to concentrator systems where

optical reflectors are used to focus the light incident on a large area on to a much
smaller area of cell. Since the cell is the most expensive component of a PV system,
these concentrating systems can reduce the cost of solar energy conversion.
4.5 CELL DESIGN AND MATERIALS

4.5.1 Device Structure c-Si
The basic solar cell is a large area (6 inches) semiconductor wafer grown or
deposited on a conducting substrate that acts as the rear contact. The front surface
is usually an anti-reflection layer coated and contacted with a fine metal grid. Cells
are usually connected in series to deliver a useful voltage (12 V standard) before
being encapsulated into modules. A diagram of a typical device structure is shown
below in Figure 25.
textured surface
front
AR coat
contact
front
emitter n Si
contact
base p Si
rear contact
Figure 25. Typical device structure.
4.5.2 c-Si Solar Cell Design

Efficient solar energy conversion requires good optical absorption, efficient charge
separation, and efficient charge transport to the external circuit. This places certain
requirements on the cell materials and design. High absorption is achieved by
making the cell thick enough, and by reducing reflection with an anti reflection
coating and/or texturing the surface. Efficient charge separation at a p-n junction
requires a high built-in bias that can be achieved by doping the p and n regions
sufficiently heavily. Efficient transport requires good quality material with few defects.
High doping and high cell thickness can adversely affect carrier transport, however,
the cell design often involves optimising these parameters.

4.5.3 Solar Cell Materials

The most common material by far is mono- or multi-crystalline silicon. Silicon is
relatively cheap, abundant and non-toxic, and benefits from the extensive
development of silicon technology for the microelectronics industry. The band gap of
silicon is lower than the optimum for solar energy conversion (1.1 eV rather than
1.4 eV), which means that the maximum theoretical efficiency is only around 29%.
Silicon cells deliver a relatively low voltage (around 0.7 V in open circuit) but a high
photo-current (around 40 mA cm-2) in AM1.5.
Silicon cells are generally prepared by diffusing a shallow layer of phosphorus (an n-
type dopant) on to a wafer of lightly p-type silicon. The cell thickness is 50-150
microns, as silicon is a weak optical absorber. Performance is improved by
passivating the cell surface to reduce recombination, and by surface treatment to
maximise the absorption of light. The best lab-efficiency obtained with a silicon solar
cell is 25%, and 18 - 22% in mass production depending on the device technology
used. Polycrystalline silicon is cheaper to produce but delivers a lower efficiency
(around 18 - 20% in the best cells).
Other crystalline materials include GaAs, which as a direct bandgap material absorbs
more strongly and has a band gap better matched to AM1.5 and a higher theoretical
efficiency. Indium phosphide is also radiation resistant and performs well in extra-
terrestrial conditions. The use of additional alloyed materials (e.g. AlGaAs, GaInP,
GaInAs etc) allow bandgap engineering and the production of multi-junction cells
capable of efficiencies over 44%. These materials are less well developed and still
more costly to produce, so the efficiency advantages are only cost effective in
specialised applications, such as in space where GaAs based solar cells dominate.
(The Mars rover was powered by GaAs solar cells!).
‘Thin film’ solar cell materials include amorphous silicon, Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)
and Copper Indium Diselenide (CIS). Amorphous silicon has been the base material
for inexpensive consumer PV products such as solar powered calculators, but suffers
from material degradation (Staebler-Wronski effect), which may inhibit its use in
higher power applications. CdTe and CIS are promising materials for mass
production as relatively efficient solar cells (lab efficiencies: CdTe 19.6%, CIS 20.4%)
can be produced by low cost deposition methods such as Close Space Sublimation
(CSS) adopted by First Solar in production, sputtering and electro-deposition.
However, currently the main problem is the gap between lab efficiencies and
production efficiencies (CdTe 16%, CIS 15%) combined with production yield issues.
Better efficiencies and yield are expected in future. Advances in materials science
are bringing up many more potential new materials for PV such as organic (11%) and
perovskite (15%).

4.5.4 Other Junctions

Other types of junction than the p-n junction include:
 The Schottky barrier junction, where a metal is deposited on a film of n or p type

semiconductor, forming a potential barrier.
 The p-i-n junction, where a layer of intrinsic material is embedded between the
two doped regions, thus, extending the region of the built in electric field. This
is used in triple junction solar cells or Heterojucntion with Intrinsc Thin layer
(HIT) cells.
 The semiconductor-electrolyte junction, where charges are separated by strong

electric fields at the interface between a semiconductor and an electrolyte
organic and dye-senzitied).
 P-n heterojunctions, where the material composition and, hence, the band gap
is varied across the junction. These are used to reduce recombination losses in
high absorption materials.
All of these areas will be discussed in more detail in the Advanced Solar module.

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CREST MSc Flexible & Distance Learning Series Solar Power 1

After working through this unit, you should be able to:

 Explain the photovoltaic process.

 Describe the basic concepts of semiconductor physics.

 Explain the important terms used when describing the operation or

 Quantify and characterise radiation that can be absorbed by a given semi-

 Calculate the maximum photo-current that a PV cell can deliver.

 Describe the characteristics of a semiconductor under equilibrium conditions

 Calculate the applied voltage required to cause a given current to flow in

©CREST 2014 Page 4.1 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

4.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PV ........................................................ 4.4

4.2 SEMICONDUCTORS ................................................................... 4.5

4.2.2 GENERATION, RECOMBINATION AND TRANSPORT .......................................... 4.7

4.2.3 DOPING ...................................................................................................... 4.9

4.3 THE P-N JUNCTION SOLAR CELL .......................................... 4.11

4.3.2 THE FERMI ENERGY AT EQUILIBRIUM .......................................................... 4.12

4.3.3 THE BUILT-IN VOLTAGE ............................................................................. 4.13

4.3.4 DEPLETION WIDTH .................................................................................... 4.13

4.3.5 DARK CURRENT ........................................................................................ 4.13

4.3.6 PHOTO-CURRENT AND SPECTRAL RESPONSE ............................................. 4.14

4.3.7 OPERATING CONDITIONS ........................................................................... 4.16

4.3.8 CELL PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY ........................................................ 4.17

4.3.9 MAXIMUM POWER ..................................................................................... 4.17

4.3.10 EFFICIENCY ............................................................................................... 4.20

4.4 PERFORMANCE LOSSES IN NON IDEAL SOLAR LOSSES . 4.21

4.4.2 NON-RADIATIVE RECOMBINATION OF PHOTO-GENERATED CARRIERS ........... 4.22

4.4.3 PARASITIC RESISTANCES ........................................................................... 4.22

©CREST 2014 Page 4.2 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

4.4.4 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT ................................................................................ 4.23

4.4.5 EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND IRRADIATION ............................................. 4.24

4.5 CELL DESIGN AND MATERIALS ........................................... 4.26

4.5.2 SOLAR CELL DESIGN ................................................................................. 4.26

4.5.3 SOLAR CELL MATERIALS ........................................................................... 4.26

4.5.4 OTHER JUNCTIONS .................................................................................... 4.28

©CREST 2014 Page 4.3 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

4.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PV

For efficient photovoltaic energy conversion the following are required:

 A high probability of photon absorption.

 A charge separation mechanism for removing the excited electron before it

 Electronic transported to move the separated charge to an external circuit

©CREST 2014 Page 4.4 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

Figure 2. Bond picture of intrinsic semiconductor.

Figure 3. Band picture of intrinsic semiconductor.

A semiconductor becomes conducting when injection of energy promotes electrons

©CREST 2014 Page 4.5 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

Notice how the concentration of mobile carriers increases exponentially with

In intrinsic semiconductors the number of free electrons and holes is necessarily

We can also write:

Where Ef is the Fermi Energy.

©CREST 2014 Page 4.6 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

Figure 4. Thermalization and Recombination.

4.2.2 Generation, Recombination and Transport

The absorption coefficient α(λ), is wavelength dependent.

Generation rate G(λ, x)

G, x      1  R e    x

©CREST 2014 Page 4.7 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

The maximum cut-off wavelength λ for photon absorption is related to bandgap

Beyond the cut-off wavelength, i.e. λ>λmax, semiconductors are transparent.

In addition to the cut-off behaviour, semiconductors may be strong (direct gap) or

Figure 6. Absorption spectra of silicon(indirect) and gallium arsenide (direct).

©CREST 2014 Page 4.8 ELD533/ELP033/ELP633

N o n -ra d ia tive ra d ia tive

c.b. c.b. c.b.