END SEMESTER EXAMINATION

MS 355 - ENERGY MATERIALS

Name – Shrishti Sharma

Roll Number – 17114019
IDD, Part 4, SMST

1. Discuss the functionalities and utilizations of the polycrystalline- Si based

solar cells?

Functionalities -
Polycrystalline Si are the highly pure polycrystalline form of silicon. It consists of thick
substrate of around 300 micrometres. Grain size generally exceeds 1 cm. Its standard
size is 15.24 cm. As compared to mono-Si cells, they have a grainy blueish coating
appearance which is a result of the imperfect crystal structure of the cell. On
average, the conversion efficiency of polycrystalline Silicon cells is between 14% and
16% with lab-records at currently over 21%. They also have high optical absorption
coefficients and bandgap suited to solar spectrum. It is cheaper to produce silicon
wafers in moulds from multiple silicon crystals rather than from a single crystal as the
conditions for growth do not need to be as tightly controlled. In this form, a number
of interlocking silicon crystals grow together. Panels based on these cells are cheaper
per unit area than monocrystalline panels. In these, abundance, low toxicity and of
silicon is combined with low-cost polysilicon. Solar cell efficiency increases with grain
size. This effect is due to reduced recombination in the solar cell. the doping of
polycrystalline silicon does have an effect on the resistivity, mobility, and free-carrier
concentration, these properties strongly depend on the polycrystalline grain size.

Utilizations -
Polysilicon has many applications in VLSI manufacturing. Its major use is production
of MOSFETs and also in large scale photovoltaic devices.