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Basic Characteristics and
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The sun is a hot sphere radiating energy in form of light or photons into
space. The absolute temperature (T ) of the outer photo sphere of the sun
3
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 4
(T of the sun, TS ) is about 5800 K. The radius of the sun (Rsun ) is 6.96 ·
105 km. The power of thermal radiation and therefore the total power
total ) can be calculated by using the Stefan–Boltzmann
emitted by the sun (Psun
equation and the surface area of the sun.
total
= σS · TS4 · 4π · Rsun
2
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Psun (1.1)
section of the earth and to the reciprocal area of a sphere with the radius
equal to one astronomical unit (AU), the distance between the sun and
the earth. This is shown schematically in Figure 1.1. The shortest and
longest distances between the sun and the earth, the so-called perihelion
and aphelion, are equal to 1.47 and 1.52 · 108 km, respectively. The radius
of the earth (Re ) is about 6400 km.
total π · Re2
Pe = Psun · (1.2)
4π · (AU)2
The solar constant (Js ) is defined as the power of the sun (Psun ) received
on earth over 1 m2 .
total
Psun
Js ≡ (1.3)
4π · (AU)2
Figure 1.1. Sun emitting photons and earth receiving a proportion of photons emitted by
the sun. The radius of the sun, the radius of earth and the distance between sun and earth
are denoted by Rsun , Re and AU, respectively.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 5
In reality, the solar constant is not a constant since the distance between the
earth and the sun and the temperature distribution at the surface of the sun
are not constant. A solar constant of 1356 W/m2 will be taken into account
in the following.
A photon is the smallest portion or quantum of light, the energy of
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which is proportional to the frequency of the light (υ). The factor between
the energy of a photon (photon energy, Eph ) and the frequency is called the
Planck constant (h = 6.626 · 10−34 Js).
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Eph = h · υ (1.4)
The velocity of light (c) is equal to 2.99 · 108 m/s and the Boltzmann
constant (kB ) is given as 1.38 · 10−23 J/K. The spectrum of blackbody
radiation for 5800 K is shown in Figure 1.2.
Spectra are usually measured in units of wavelength (λ). The λ of light
is proportional to the reciprocal frequency while the proportionality factor
is the velocity of light.
c
λ= (1.6)
υ
The Eph is given in units of eV, which means that the energy is divided
by the elementary charge (q = 1.6 · 10−19 As). Therefore, the product of
the photon energy and the wavelength is given by
h·c
Eph · λ = = 1240 eV · nm (1.7)
q
The λ can be easily transformed into the Eph by using Equation (1.7).
The Eph and the λ in the maximum of the corresponding spectra of
blackbody radiation are obtained in tasks T1.3 and T1.4 (see end of this
chapter), respectively, for a blackbody with T of 5800 K.
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Figure 1.2. Spectrum of sunlight (sun spectrum) outside the earth’s atmosphere (air mass
(AM) 0, thick solid line), on earth for a zenith angle of 48.2◦ (AM1.5, thin solid line) and
of a blackbody with a temperature of 5800 K (dashed line).
A solar cell converts Psun into electric power (P), i.e. the product of
electric current (I ) and electric potential or voltage (U ).
P =I ·U (1.8)
With respect to Equation (1.8), the two fundamental functions of a
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solar cell are (i) the photocurrent generation and (ii) the generation of a
photovoltage.
Photocurrent generation means the creation of mobile photogenerated
charge carriers by absorbing light and their collection at external contacts.
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PV power plants can be described by the ratio between Wel and Pinst .
Wel Psun kWh
= ·t = (1.11)
Pinst Psun (AM1.5) kWp
The η of PV modules decreases during operation time at a so-called
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degradation rate (kdeg ) of between about 0.3% and 1.5% per year (Jordan
et al., 2016). The degradation time of a PV module (tη ) can be defined as
the time after which η reduced to a certain value (see also task T1.2).
The energy payback time of a PV module (tEPB ) is defined as the
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amount by which the ISC –VOC rectangle is filled by the Imp –Ump rectangle
and is therefore called the fill factor (FF).
Imp · Ump
FF = (1.14)
ISC · VOC
The η of a solar cell is defined as the ratio between the power extracted
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at the mpp of the solar cell and the power of the sunlight at which the solar
cell is illuminated (Psun ).
ISC · VOC
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η = FF (1.15)
Psun
The solar energy conversion efficiency is a decisive parameter for costs
and sustainability of PV energy production. The higher the value of η, the
lower the amount of material and area needed for a PV power plant with a
given Pinst . A lot of effort has been directed in the past and will continue to
be in the future (i) to the investigation of fundamental limitations of η for
different types of solar cells, (ii) to materials science for finding out suitable
materials and materials combinations for high values of η and (iii) to the
development of technologies allowing the realization of maximum values
of η in mass production and with a minimum of resources.
Figure 1.4. Equivalent circuit of an ideal solar cell containing a photocurrent generator
and a diode for charge separation and connected to a RL .
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 11
direction but not in the other. This is the characteristic property of a diode,
the second element in the equivalent circuit of an ideal solar cell.
A current across a diode (ID ) is described by the diode equation
q·U
ID = I0 · exp −1 (1.16)
kB · T
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Figure 1.5. Current–voltage characteristics of an ideal solar cell with I0 = 10−13 A/cm2
in the dark (stars) and under illumination at Iph = 0.04 A/cm2 (circles).
Figure 1.6. Dependence of VOC (a), FF (b) and the normalized η (c) on ISC for an ideal
solar cell with I0 = 10−18 , 10−13 and 10−8 A/cm2 (squares, circles and stars, respectively).
The values of ISC and VOC are 41.8 mA/cm2 and 0.74 V, respectively,
for a c-Si record solar cell and 29.68 mA/cm2 and 1.122 V, respectively,
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 14
for a GaAs record solar cell (Green et al., 2016). With respect to
Equation (1.18) for I0 one gets
with increasing light intensity, i.e. ISC is proportional to Psun . With respect
to Equation (1.19), therefore, one gets
I
η FF T ln ISC0
= · ·
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(1.24)
η0 FF0 T0 ln ISC,0
I0,0
Figure 1.7. Equivalent circuit of a real solar cell containing a photocurrent generator, an
ideal diode, a shunt resistance (Rp ) and a series resistance (Rs ) and being connected with a
load resistance (RL ).
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 17
1 VOC R∗
Rs,tol < · = L (1.29 )
100 ISC 100
VOC
> 100 · = 100 · RL∗ (1.29 )
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Rp,tol
ISC
Equations (1.29) describe rather harsh conditions. For example, a solar
cell based on a c-Si wafer (for details about c-Si solar cells, see in Chapter 7)
with an area of about 100 cm2 has an ISC of about 3–4 A and a VOC of about
0.6–0.7 V. This means that the overall Rs or Rp of this solar cell should be
less than about 2 m or larger than 20 , respectively.
A major source for Rs in c-Si solar cells are the bus bars collecting
the charge carriers from the whole solar cell. The bus bars are mainly
based on silver. The resistance of a bus bar can be calculated if the specific
conductivity (σ, 6.2 × 107 S/m for silver), the length (L), the width (B) and
the height (H ) of the bus bar are known.
L
R= (1.30)
σ·B·H
The resistance is about 3 m for a typical bus bar with a length of
10 cm, a width of 5 mm and a height of 0.1 mm which is larger than the
2 m demanded. Crystalline silicon solar cells have usually several bus bars
depending on the area of the solar cell and on the resistance of the emitter
(see Chapter 7).
Current and voltage can be related to area fractions of a solar cell, to
solar cells connected in PV modules, to PV modules connected in strings
or to strings of PV modules connected in large PV power plants. The
conditions for the area of the cross section of bus bars in c-Si solar cells or
of copper cables connecting strings of PV modules are equivalent and can
be obtained by using Equations (1.29 ) and (1.30). For this purpose, the
series and parallel connection of solar cells has to be taken into account.
In a series connection, the current remains constant whereas the individual
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 18
U = Ui (1.31 )
i
I = Ii (1.31 )
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U = Ui (1.32 )
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I= Ii (1.32 )
i
the ISC in Equation (1.27) and the short-circuit current obtained at zero
∗ , see also Figure 1.8(a)) can be rather different depending on
potential (ISC
Rs and thus have to be distinguished.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 19
Figure 1.8. I –V characteristics for a solar cell with negligible Rp (a) or Rs (b) for different
values of Rs (a) and Rp (b) and I0 = 10−13 A/cm2 and ISC = 0.04 A/cm2 .
Figure 1.8(a) shows the I –V characteristics for solar cells for which
Rp can be neglected and for which the Rs are about three or one orders
of magnitude lower than RLmpp ideal or very close to R ideal . The values of
Lmpp
ISC and VOC are practically identical for the I –V characteristics with
Rs = 0.02 cm2 and Rs = 2 cm2 , while FF decreases significantly for the
I –V characteristic with Rs = 2 cm2 . The value of VOC remains constant
with further increase of Rs since Rs has no influence if there is no current
flowing. However, ISC ∗ decreases to about 0.032 A/cm2 , which is less than
of VOC is a little bit lower for the solar cell with Rp = 100 cm2 than
for the solar cell with Rp = 1000 cm2 and decreases to 0.4 V for the
solar cell with Rp = 10 cm2 . The I –V characteristic becomes a straight
line for Rp = 10 cm2 , i.e. FF is 0.25. Low values of Rp limit VOC
and FF.
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Figure 1.10. I –V characteristics for solar cells with negligible Rp (a) or Rs (b) for I0 =
10−13 A/cm2 and ISC = 0.08, 0.04 and 0.01 A/cm2 (stars, triangles and circles, respectively)
for Rs = 10 cm2 (a) and Rp = 100 cm2 (b). Incidentally, ISC corresponds to the value
in the diode equation.
Figure 1.11. Dependencies of the normalized solar energy conversion efficiency on ISC
for a solar cell with I0 = 10−13 A/cm2 at different values of Rs (a) (Rp neglected)
and Rp (b) (Rs neglected). The thin and thick arrows mark ISC of an ideal c-Si solar
cell at AM1.5 and the directions towards concentrated sunlight and weak illumination,
respectively.
Figure 1.12. Dependence of the ISC on the VOC for a given solar cell in a logarithmic scale
and in a linear scale (zoom, inset).
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 25
Figure 1.13. Arrhenius plot of the I0 for a given solar cell. The logarithm of the I0
should be multiplied with the temperature dependent ideality factor in case of a non-ideal
solar cell.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 26
The value of I00 amounts to about 100 A/cm2 for the example shown in
Figure 1.13.
EA
Io = I00 · exp − (1.34)
kB · T
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Figure 1.14. Temperature dependence of the VOC for a solar cell with given activation
energy and ideality factor measured at different I00 /ISC ratios.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 27
dependence of VOC at different ratios of I00 /ISC . As can be seen, the higher
ISC , the lower the T dependence of VOC .
The solar energy conversion efficiency of solar cells decreases with
increasing T due to the thermal activation of I0 . Solar cells are certified for
standard test conditions, i.e. at AM1.5 and 25◦ C. However, the T of solar
cells can easily exceed 25◦ C and increase to values on the order of 60◦ C,
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and even higher under operation conditions (see task T1.5 in Section 1.7).
This should be taken into account when calculating the expected energy
production of a projected PV power plant. Further, there are solar cells
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Figure 1.15. Arrangement for the measurement of I –V characteristics of solar cells for (a)
a known set of resistances and a multimeter, (b) a potentiometer and two multimeters, (c)
an electronic load or constant current source, (d) a switch and capacitor with oscilloscope
and (e) a periodically variable RL and oscilloscope.
with relatively low power when the RL in the mpp is about 10 or larger.
The point is that contact and cable resistances can become an important
source of error for low RL . A fixed correction resistance can be introduced
into the analysis if the contact resistance and the resistances of cables
are constant. Furthermore, the power range of a given resistor has to be
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 29
is the negative slope of the I –V characteristic near ISC where the diode
current can be neglected.
U
Rp = − (1.36)
I U →0
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Figure 1.16. Procedure for the measurement of I –V characteristics (a) and determination
of the Rp (b) and Rs (c).
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 30
Rs = (1.37)
ISC1 − ISC2
The described procedure of measuring Rs works well for conventional
solar cells when the FF is not very low and Rp and Rs can be well
distinguished.
A potentiometer for faster variation of RL and multimeters for current
and voltage measurements can also be used for the measurement of I –V
characteristics of illuminated solar cells (Figure 1.15(b)). However, one has
to be careful with the current measurement since the internal resistance
of the multimeter can become a series source of error, especially when
changing the range of sensitivity.
A load can be simulated with a constant current source connected with
the solar cell (Figure 1.15(c)). The resulting voltage drop across the solar
cell is then measured. Constant current sources, also called source measure
units or electronic loads, allow I –V measurements to a high degree of
accuracy over a wide range of power depending on the dimensioning of
the electronic load. Constant current sources can be fabricated at excellent
precision so that currents down to the range of pA and less can be measured.
Dark I –V characteristics and I –V characteristics of solar cells illuminated
over a wide range of intensities can only be investigated with source measure
units. As an aside, double-shielded cables have to be used for measurements
at very low currents to avoid potential drops across long cables. Four-point
probes or so-called Kelvin contacts have to be applied for measurements
at high currents and/or very low RL . In this case, the potential drop is
measured between the contacts of the current input to avoid an influence
of voltage drops at contact resistances for the current input and to avoid an
influence of an inhomogeneous current flow.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 31
Fast and reliable measurements of ISC , VOC and FF are needed for
in-line control and binning of solar cells. For example, the tact cycle of a
production line for c-Si solar cells is of the order of only 1 s or less. Time
for handling, contacting and sorting of a solar cell is needed within one
tact cycle in addition to the measurement time. This means that a c-Si
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solar cell has to be characterized within a time even less than 0.1–0.3 s.
Very fast measurements of I –V characteristics become possible with a load
changing its resistance automatically and rapidly during illumination with
a light flash. The principle of such a flasher is given in Figure 1.15(d). The
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the I –V characteristic has to be measured along with the Psun at the exact
moment at which the I –V -characteristic is obtained. The Psun is measured
with a pyranometer in the unit W/m2 (Figure 1.17). The angles of incidence
must be identical for the solar cell and for the pyranometer. The area of the
solar cell has to be measured with a ruler for normalizing the power in the
mpp of the solar cell to its area.
In the pyranometer, the blackbody absorbs the light of the com-
plete sun spectrum. The decisive advantage of a blackbody is that the
sunlight is absorbed over the whole relevant spectral range at the same
sensitivity.
Figure 1.18. Normalized spectra of the intensity of a blackbody at 3000 K and at 10,000 K
in comparison with the normalized AM1.5 spectrum.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 35
a halogen lamp is impossible due to the very low intensity in the spectral
range between blue and ultra violet light.
A xenon arc lamp is a light source with a T in the arc of about 10,000 K
which is much higher than the TS . The maximum intensity of a xenon
arc lamp is at a wavelength of about 300 nm. In addition, a xenon arc
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intensity in the AM1.5 spectrum. In the simplest case, water is used for
filtering since a significant part of absorption in the earth’s atmosphere
is caused by water molecules. Furthermore, a shutter is implemented to
enable measurements of I –V characteristics in the dark. A beam splitter
with a xenon lamp feedback circuit is needed to adjust the lamp current for
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keeping a constant and highly stabilized intensity of the xenon arc lamp.
The integrator gives information about accumulated irradiation time. The
solar cell is kept at a tempered holder at 25◦ C and contacted with a source
measure unit. The contact resistance is usually tested with a second contact
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at the anode and cathode of the solar cell before the I –V characteristics are
measured.
Powerful light sources of the order of a kW are needed in a sun simulator
for homogeneous illumination of solar cells with an area of 10 × 10 cm2
and larger. The light sources should be actively cooled with filtered air.
The life of lamps is limited. Therefore, a sun simulator needs regular
service. For example, a halogen lamp has to be replaced after every
50 hours of operation. In addition, the sun simulator has to be calibrated
regularly with calibrated solar cells that are sensitive in different spectral
ranges.
Figure 1.20. Schematic of the simplest setup for spectral response measurements.
The lock-in amplifier registers only that part of the photocurrent which is
caused by the modulated incoming light, i.e. noise signals and the sensitivity
to bias light are strongly suppressed. The signal at the lock-in amplifier is
measured as a function of λ.
The accurate absolute calibration of a monochromatic light source
demands tremendous efforts. Therefore, it is much easier to compare a
measured photocurrent spectrum of an unknown solar cell (Iph,1 ) with
that (Iph,2 ) of a solar cell which spectral response spectrum is known
(SR2 ). The unknown spectral response (SR1 ) is found from the following
equation:
Iph,1 (λ)
SR 1 (λ) = · SR 2 (λ) (1.39)
Iph,2 (λ)
A photocurrent is the photogenerated charge per time unit and the
power is the energy per time unit. The photogenerated charge is the
product of the number of collected photogenerated electrons (Ne (λ)) and
the q and the energy of light is the product of the number of photons
(Nph (λ)) and the Eph . Therefore, Equation (1.38) can be transformed to
q · λ Ne (λ) Ne (λ)
SR(λ) = · = SR max (λ) · (1.40)
h · c Nph (λ) Nph (λ)
The maximum spectral response is proportional to the wavelength and
amounts, for example, to 0.724 A/W at a λ of 900 nm.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 38
The values of the ISC density obtained from measurements with a sun
simulator and obtained from the QE spectrum should be equal if the sun
simulator and the reference solar cell for the analysis of the SR are well
calibrated. Therefore, SR or QE measurements allow for an independent
correct determination of ISC .
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1.6 Summary
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The sun emits a huge amount of power or energy flux to earth characterized
by the solar constant (1356 W/m2 ) and by its spectral distribution with a
maximum at photon energy around 1.4 eV. Total Psun reaching the earth is
about 1.3 × 108 GW. For purposes of comparison, a nuclear power plant
has a power of about 1 GW and a person needs on average about 0.1 kW
to sustain his or her biological life. The total power received on earth
can be compared with the population of mankind (more than 7 · 109 )
and the energy demand per capita for comfortable life (2 kW per capita
seems sufficient). The Psun reaching the earth exceeds the energy demand
of mankind by several thousand times. PV solar energy conversion is aimed
at using a part of this energy for human needs in form of electricity. The
solar energy conversion efficiency is the most important parameter of solar
cells and PV power plants. A high η combined with a low degradation rate
of η and a low energy payback time is decisive for sustainable solar energy
conversion.
A solar cell has two basic functions: the generation of a photocurrent
and the generation of a photovoltage for the production electric power.
The maximum electric power of an illuminated solar cell is the product
of the ISC , the VOC and the FF. Loads are used to extract the power from
solar cells. From an illuminated solar cell, the maximum power is extracted
with a load, the resistance of which has to be equal to the quotient of the
potential and of the current in the mpp. The mpp of a solar cell changes
with changing illumination. This has practical consequences such as mpp
tracking. For worldwide comparison, solar cells and PV modules have to be
characterized at STC (power at AM1.5 with 1000 W/m2 and temperature
of the solar cell 25◦ C).
The behavior of solar cells can be analyzed with equivalent circuits. An
ideal solar cell contains only a photocurrent generator and a diode. The
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 40
diode is necessary for internal charge separation, i.e. for the generation
of a photovoltage. Ideal solar cells can be completely described by two
fundamental parameters, the ISC and the I0 , i.e. all properties of materials
and combinations of materials used in a solar cell are confined in ISC and
I0 (Figure 1.22).
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Figure 1.22. Summary of the basic characteristics of ideal and real solar cells.
January 9, 2018 18:25 Materials Concepts for Solar Cells (2nd Edition) - 9in x 6in b3016-ch01 page 41
Figure 1.23. General dependence of the solar energy conversion efficiency on increasing
and decreasing temperature and concentration factor of illumination.
can be calculated by using the spectrum of the photon flux from the sun
and the spectrum of the quantum efficiency of a solar cell. For the same
solar cell, the ISC density measured with a sun simulator should be equal to
the ISC density calculated from the quantum efficiency.
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1.7 Tasks