11/5/19

Chap 2.2
Basics of Photovoltaics
Department of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Faculty of Engineering
Omar Al- Mukhtar University

Important Terms
• Semiconductor: solid-state material in which, in contrast to metals
and insulators:
• Electrical conductivity can be controlled by orders of magnitude by adding
very small amounts of alien elements known as dopants.
• Electrical conductivity can be controlled not only by negatively charged
electrons, but also by positively charged holes.
• Electrical conductivity is sensitive to temperature, illumination, and
magnetic fields.
• The valence band and the conduction band are separated by the energy
gap.
• The width of the energy gap rarely exceeds about 3.5 eV while in
insulators energy gap is typically wider that about 5 eV.
• Intrinsic semiconductor: semiconductor materials in which free
electrons and holes result only from band-to band generation, and
hence, feature the same concentration; undoped; does not display
neither n- or p-type conductivity.
• Extrinsic semiconductor: doped semiconductor featuring either p- or
n-type conductivity.
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• Acceptor: element introduced to semiconductor to generate free hole (by

“accepting” electron from semiconductor atom and “releasing” hole at the
same time); acceptor atom must have one valence electron less than
semiconductor; boron (B) is the most common acceptor in silicon technology.

• Donor: element introduced to semiconductor to generate free electron (by

“donating” a electron to semiconductor); must have one more valence
electron than semiconductor; common donors in Si: P.

• Dopant: element introduced to semiconductor to establish either p-type

(acceptor) or n-type (donor) conductivity.

• Electron: negatively charged particle in an atom; carrier of smallest

(elemental) charge of 1.6x10-19C; carrier of negative charge in
semiconductors.

• Hole: positive charge carrier in a semiconductors which materially does not

exits; lack of electron moving in the direction opposite to that of electron and
carrying a positive charge; features higher effective mass than electron,
hence, lower mobility.
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• Band gap: energy band separating conduction and valence bands in

the solid; no electron energy levels are allowed in the forbidden band;
no energy gap in metals in which case conduction and valence bands
overlap; solids featuring energy gap are defined as either
semiconductors or insulators based on the width of energy gap.

• Carrier Mobility: is a measure of how fast the charge carriers(Electron

or Hole) move in response to an electric field, and varies with respect to
the type of semiconductor, the dopant concentration level,
the carrier type (N or P type), and temperature.
• Mobility of the charge carrier is defined as the drift velocity of the charge
carrier per unit electric field. It is denoted by m and is given as. The SI
unit of m is (m2 / V s).

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which carrier In pristine silicon,

transports faster?

A. Electrons
B. Holes
C. Both transport at
the same speed

There are free electrons in

pristine Si wafer at room
temperature.

A. True
B. False

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In n-type Si, which is majority

carrier?

A. Electrons
B. Holes
C. Neither of them
D. Either of them

Which of the following is forward bias for a diode?

1 2 3

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3

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Below shows a solar panel charging battery

and providing power to a bulb. Under what
bias do solar panels provide power?

A. Forward bias
B. Reversed bias
C. Either of them
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A solar cell with an area of 0.5 cm2 has a short circuit

current of 8 mA with an open circuit voltage of 0.9 V and fill
factor of 0.7 tested under 100 mW/cm2 from AM1.5 solar
simulator. What is reasonable efficiency?

A. 21.6%
B. 10.8%
C. 5.4%
D. 24.6%

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Which of the following is maximum power point?

P4
R4

A. P1
B. P2
C. P3
D. P4
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Equivalent circuit equations

Single diode model

V - VD V æ qVD ö
I= = I sh + I D - I ph = D + I 0 ç e nkT - 1÷ - I ph VD I V
Rs Rsh è ø
-0.8 # *
VD = V - IRs V = VD + IRs
-0.7 # *
V - IRs æ q (V - IRs ) ö
I= + I 0 ç e nkT - 1÷ - I ph -0.6 # *
Rsh è ø
… … …
• How can you plot the figure (V, I)? 0.6 # *
– First use VD to find I 0.7 # *
– Then you know VD and I at each point
– Then find V 12

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Parasitic resistance effects in solar cells

Solar cell model including the parasitic resistances.
V - I Rs
I= + I 0 (exp[q (V - I Rs ) / nkT ] - 1) - I PH Rs
Rsh I
Rsh
I SC » - I PH » - I PH V Rsh VD IPH
Rs + Rsh
VOC
+ I 0 exp[qVOC / nkT ] = I PH
Rsh

• Parasitic resistances reduce ISC, VOC and FF of solar cells.

• The effect of series and shunt resistances on the fill factor is often much
more than their effect on VOC and ISC.

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Short circuit condition

I Rs
Solar cell model including the
parasitic resistances. V Rsh VD IPH

V - I Rs
I= + I 0 (exp[q (V - I Rs ) / nkT ] - 1) - I PH
Rsh
V=0

Rsh
I SC » - I PH » - I PH
Rs + Rsh

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Open circuit condition

I Rs
Solar cell model including the parasitic
resistances. V Rsh VD IPH

V - I Rs
I= + I 0 (exp[q (V - I Rs ) / nkT ] - 1) - I PH
Rsh
I=0

VOC
+ I 0 exp[qVOC / nkT ] = I PH
Rsh

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Estimation of shunt resistance – dark current

• If incident light is prevented from exciting the solar cell, the I-V curve can be
obtained.
• This I-V curve is simply a reflection of the “No Light” curve.
• The slope of the linear region of the curve in the third quadrant (reverse-bias)
is a continuation of the linear region in the first quadrant, which is the same
linear region used to calculate RSH .
• It follows that RSH can be derived from the I-V plot obtained with or without
providing light excitation, even when power is sourced to the cell.
• It is important to note these resistances are often a function of the light level,
and can differ in value between the light and dark tests.

Inverse of
slope gives
shunt
resistance

Reverse bias

Dark I-V curve

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Estimation of series resistance – dark current

• In dark, Iph=0
• Rsh>>Rs, so current flows
through Rsh can be ignored
• At larger voltage, the
resistance of the diode can
be ignored.

Forward
bias
Inverse of slope
gives series
resistance

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Estimation of series and shunt resistances

• It is possible to approximate the series and shunt resistances, RS and RSH,

from the slopes of the I-V curve at VOC and ISC, respectively.
– The resistance at Voc, however, is at best proportional to series resistance (RS) but it is
larger than series resistance.
– RSH is represented by the slope at ISC.
• Typically, the resistances at ISC and at VOC will be measured and noted.

shunt resistance

series resistance

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Air mass definition

The path length of solar energy in the
atmosphere depends on the solar zenith
angle, which varies with the time of day. This
path length is given by the air mass number
(AM), which is the secant of the solar zenith
angle θ:
1
!" = sec ' =
cos '
Air mass: the ratio between the optical path
length (OA) to that (OB) when sun directly
shines overhead

AM = 1.5 Þ q = 41.8°
• Air mass value changes
‒ during day time
‒ all year round
‒ Different locations.
• As a result, AM1.5 is usually considered as a standard solar spectrum for device
characterization and solar cell calculations. 19

Solar spectrum vs air mass

• Solar irradiance outside of the Earth atmosphere is referred as air mass 0 (AM0).
Solar irradiance at the noon hour at the equator of the Earths is referred to as the air
mass 1 (AM1).
• Total power of sunlight just outside of the Earth’s atmosphere is 1353 W/m2.
• For measuring solar cells in a lab often a sunlight simulator (Xe arc lamp)
equipped with an AM1.5 filter and calibrated power of 1000 W/m2 (100
mW/cm2) is used.

Source: NREL, http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/spectra/am0/ASTM2000.html 20

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Optical response of solar cells

• Spectral quality of a solar cell can be
evaluated by its quantum efficiency
characteristic Solar
nph
• External quantum efficiency of a solar cell at a Cell
given wavelength is the ratio between number
of electrons collected at the electrodes to the
number of photons shined onto the surface of ne
solar cell.
• Internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of a solar ne (l )
cell is the ratio between number of electrons EQE (l ) =
n ph (l )
collected at the electrodes to the number of
photons absorbed into the solar cells (exclude QE (l )
IQE (l ) =
the reflection and transmission from the front 1 - R (l ) - T (l )
surface of the solar cell).

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Typical solar cell characteristics – Illuminated IV

NREL stands for National Renewable Energy Laboratory 22

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