Solar Energy

Photovoltaic cells

Definition of photovoltaic Cells

Photovoltaic cells are semiconductor device which converts light or solar energy into
electrical energy and it works on the basis of photoelectric effect as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the photovoltaic cell

Working of PV Cell
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made up of at least 2 semi-conductor layers. One layer containing
a positive charge, the other a negative charge.

Sunlight consists of little particles of solar energy called photons. As a PV cell is exposed to
this sunlight, many of the photons absorbed by the solar cell. When enough photons are
absorbed by the negative layer of the photovoltaic cell, electrons are freed from the negative
semiconductor material. Due to the manufacturing process of the positive layer, these freed
electrons naturally migrate to the positive layer creating a voltage differential, similar to a
household battery. When the 2 layers are connected to an external load, the electrons flow
through the circuit creating electricity.
Schematic representation of the working principle of photovoltaic cell is represented as
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Properties of Silicon
Chemical properties Silicon

 The silicon atom has fourteen electrons arranged in such a way that the outer four can
be given to, accepted from, or shared with another atom. These four outer electrons
are called valence electrons.

 Silicon has the great affinity for oxygen forming stable oxides and silicates.

 Silicon with hydrogen forms SiH4, and it is key chemical compound for the
production of soloar grade silicon.

Physical Properties of Silicon Relevant to Photovoltaic’s

 Silicon is a semiconductor with a band gap Eg of 1.12 eV at 25 °C.

 It can be effectively doped to get n-type and p-type junctions

 Impurities can be incorporated in the silicon lattice during crystal growth and thus
producing either free electrons or holes

Solar grade Silicon

Purest form of silicon with trace amount of impurities in ppb leve is called solor grade
silicon.

Production Solar Grade Silicon:

A material called quartzite, which can be almost 99% silica in high-grade mineral deposits
generally used for producing solar grade silicon.

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Initially, the quartzite is heated in the presence of carbon. This breaks the SiO2 into elemental
silicon (Si) and carbon dioxide.
SiO2 + 2C → Si + 2CO
The silicon, however, still retains impurities originally in the quartzite. To remove most of
these, an appropriate chemical vapor is blown over the silicon; the gas reacts with such
impurities as aluminum, calcium, and magnesium, and they leave as part of the gas.
4Al + 3SiO2 → 3Si + 2Al2O3
2Ca + SiO2 → Si + 2CaO
2Mg + SiO2 → Si + 2MgO
After this process, the silicon still retains some impurities bad for a photovoltaic cell, so it is
converted to a liquid called trichlorosilane (SiHCI3) using hydrogen chloride and a copper
catalyst.
Si + 3HCl → HSiCl3 + H2
The obtained trichlorsilane is passed through fixed bed coloumn containing quaternary
ammonium ion exchange resin as catalyst. During this process following reactions takes
place.
2HSiCl3 H2SiCl4 + SiCl4
3H2SiCl4 SiH4 + HSiCl4
The trichlorosilane and tetrachlorosilane are recycled to the hydrogenation reactor and the
exchange resin respectively.
Silane obtained is purified by distillation and subjected for pyrolysis to get semiconductor
grade silicon.
SiH4 Si + H2
The obtained silicon is subjected for zone refining to get solar grade silicon.

Zone refining
A rod of silicon is to be purified is calmped as shown in figure and it is heated by RF coil to
the melting point of silicon in the presence of argon gas. The heates is moved very slowly
from top to bottom. Impurities move with the molten part of the materials as the RF coil
moves down. Pure silicon solidifies at the upper portion. When the process complete, the
bottom portion where the impurities are concentrated is removed. This rod is subjected to
several zone refining process to get ultra pure silicon.

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Doping of Silicon
The concentrations of electrons and holes in Si can be manipulated by doping. The
substitution has to be carried out by atoms with three or five valence electrons, such as boron
or phosphorous, respectively.
When introducing phosphorous atom into the Si lattice, four of the five phosphorous atom
valence electrons will readily form bonds with the four neighbouring Si atoms. The fifth
valence electron cannot take part in forming a bond and becomes rather weakly bound to the
phosphorous atom. This free electron can move throughout the lattice.

n type silicon

To create a P-type semiconductor, add trivalent element into the Si lattice. A trivalent
element has three electrons in its valence shell. It shares three electrons with three
neighboring silicon atoms in the lattice, the fourth silicon atom demands an electron but the
trivalent atom has no more electron to share. This creates a void in lattice which we call it has

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hole. Since the electron is deficient, the hole readily accepts an electron, this makes it a P-
type (Positive type) extrinsic semiconductor.

p type silicon

Advantage of Solar cell

1. It is clean and non-polluting
2. It is a renewable energy
3. Solar cells do not produce noise and they are totally silent.
4. They require very little maintenance
5. They are long lasting sources of energy which can be used almost anywhere
6. They have long life time
7. There are no fuel costs or fuel supply problems