Certification Training Course

SESSION -1: PV Technologies

1. Introduction
2. Solar Fundamentals
3. PV Technologies
4. PV Modules
5. Inverters
6. EMC Main Issues
 PV Technologies

Objective

• Aim of this module is to illustrate the different

PV technologies and also to review key
characteristics, pros and cons.
The origins of PV
solar

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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1839: Edmond Becquerel can

produce electricity by irradiating
an electrolyte solution with two
electrodes of different materials
• 1876: W. G. Adams and R. E. Day
discover the photoelectric effect of
Selenium. In 1883 C. Fritts
describes the first solar cell made
of a Selenium wafer

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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1905: Theoretical framework

made by Einstein (Nobel prize in
1921). Experimental confirmation
in 1916 by R. Millikan
• 1918: J. Czochralski develops an
innovative method to produce
high-purity Silicon crystals
• 1932: Researchers Audobert and
Stora discover the photovoltaic
effect in Cadmium-Sulfide (CdS)

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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1954: Silicon photovoltaic

cells make their first
appearance in Bell
Laboratories by D. Chapin,
C. Fuller e G. Pearson. The
first cells produced had a
4% efficiency, that a little
later would become 11%
• 1955: Western Electric
begins to market
photovoltaic technologies

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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1957: Hoffman Electronics reaches

a 8% efficiency for photovoltaic
cells. Next year this efficiency
become a 9%, then to reach a 10%
in 1959 by using a grid for the
contact
• 1958: The satellite Vanguard is
equipped with the first experimental
PV generator to feed a radio
• 1959: The satellite Explorer VI is
equipped with an array of 9600
solar cells of 2 cm2 each
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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1960: Hoffman Electronics reaches a

14% efficiency for PV cells
• 1963: Sharp Corporation begins to
produce PV modules. In the same
year, in Japan 242 W of PV modules
are installed on a lighthouse
• 1964: NASA launches into space the
satellite Nimbus, equipped with a 470
W PV array. 2 years later, The first
station orbiting astronomical is
equipped with 1 kW of PV

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 PV Technologies
The origins of PV solar

• 1970: The researcher E. Berman,

design a low-cost PV cell, bringing
down the price from 100 $/W to 20
$/W
• 1976: D. Carlson e C. Wronski from
RCA laboratories build the first PV
cells in amorphous Silicon
• 1980: ARCO Solar exceeds the
production of 1 MW/year of PV
modules. At Delaware University,
Copper-sulfide and Cadmium-sulfide
thin-films reach a 10% efficiency
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The photovoltaic
effect

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

• The photovoltaic cell is the basic

element for any photovoltaic system
and where the conversion from solar
radiation to electricity is performed
• The photovoltaic conversion is
obtained by means of the exploitation
of a semiconductor junction. In the
case of Silicon the crystal is
tetravalent, thus it has 4 valence
electrons, used for molecular bonds
with other atoms

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

• The P-N junction is made by putting in

contact two crystals, one of them
containing trivalent atoms (e.g. Boron),
while the other contains pentavalent
atoms (e.g. Phosphorum)
• The P-crystal, containing the trivalent
atoms, has a number of holes in the
P
structure, because of the lack of
electrons, while the N, containing the
pentavalent atoms, has a surplus of
electrons
• These holes and electrons can freely
move in the crystal
N

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

• The contact between the two

crystals shifts the surplus
electrons from the crystal N to P,
and this forms a region called
«Depletion region», where holes
are filled by electrons
• This process go to a halt when
the electric field generated by
the electrons in the P-crystal
equals the carrier diffusion
• The junction is therefore biased

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

• Light radiation, provided this

has a sufficient energy,
generates in the crystal
electron-hole pairs
• The electric field in the P-N
junction directs electrons
towards the N-zone (positively
charged) and holes towards
the P-zone (negatively
charged)
• This motion of carriers
originates the photovoltaic
effect and thus an electric
current

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

• Only photons with a sufficient energy may generate electron-hole

pairs ( < 1,15 m for c-Si)
• Eligible photons often have an energy surplus that cannot be
exploited in the generation of electron-hole pairs
• Therefore, a theoretical limit to conversion efficiency is always
present

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 PV Technologies
The photovoltaic effect

Additional penalities are:

• Not all photons can penetrate inside the cell, a portion is reflected
or absorbed by the front contact
• A number of electron-hole pairs recombine before they are
separated by the electric field in the junction
• Connections, wiring and expecially the front contacts have a
ohmic resistance

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The crystalline
photovoltaic cell

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 PV Technologies
The crystalline photovoltaic cell
Crystalline PV cells can be obtained by a single crystal or by a poly-
crystal. Typical sizes are 5’’ (125x125 mm) and 6’’ (156x156 mm), Larger
cell sizes like 182mmx182mm, 210mmx210mm, etc., are available

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 PV Technologies
The crystalline photovoltaic cell

Mono-crystalline PV cells come from single-crystal ingot slicing and

subsequent refinement
The single crystal ingot is obtained by growth of a thready crystal in
slow rotation

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 PV Technologies
The crystalline photovoltaic cell

Poly-crystalline PV cells come from multi-crystalline ingot slicing and

subsequent refinement
The polycrystalline silicon ingot is obtained by melting and casting
the silicon in a parallelepiped-shaped mould

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 PV Technologies
The crystalline photovoltaic cell

After slicing Silicon wafers are obtained. Further passages are:

• Front contact deposition
• Back contact deposition
• Anti-reflective coating
• Texturing (optional)

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Crystalline PV
modules

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 PV Technologies
Crystalline PV modules

In a PV system the cell is the smallest part which is able to convert

solar radiation into power, but PV cells cannot be used individually

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 PV Technologies
Crystalline PV modules

According to IEC/TS 61836: a photovoltaic (PV) module is a:

Complete and environmentally protected assembly of interconnected
photovoltaic cells

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 PV Technologies
Crystalline PV modules

A PV module is made of
several layers, electric
wiring and connections

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 PV Technologies
Crystalline PV modules

PV modules production requires a number of main steps:

• Bus-wire soldering
• Tabbing
• Lamination
• Framing
• Junction box
• …

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 PV Technologies
Crystalline PV modules

Nowadays the PV modules production process is fully automated

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Thin-film PV cells
and modules

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 PV Technologies
Thin-film PV cells and modules

• Materials such as Copper-Indium-

(Gallium) diSelenide (CIS / CIGS)
or Cadmium telluride (CdTe) can
be used as the semiconductor
material
• Silicon-based thin-film products
are represented by amorphous
silicon and -crystalline Thin-films
• Thin-film PV cells generally
measure only a few m thick, and
are comprised of thin layers of
semiconductors and dopants,
where each layer is subsequently
“sprayed” or “printed” on top of the
previous layer
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 PV Technologies
Thin-film PV cells and modules

• Along with the deposition

process, a transparent,
conductive oxide is overlaid on
the entire module surface to
serve as the conductive path
• Thin-film modules are made
monolithically, where all the
layers are deposited in a sheet,
creating one large PV cell
• Later in the process, the cell is
divided up into smaller cells by
laser etching

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 PV Technologies
Thin-film PV cells and modules

The exploitation of the solar radiation spectrum by thin-film cells is

different than that of crystalline silicon and depends on the specific
technology

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 PV Technologies
Thin-film PV cells and modules

Uniformity, flexibility and

transparency are perhaps the more
relevant aesthetic characteristics of
thin-film PV technologies

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 PV Technologies
Multi-junction PV cells

• Multi-junction PV cells
can reach high
efficiencies (> 30%)
but their high costs
limit their terrestrial
use to Concentrating
PV systems
• Each junction converts
a different wavelength
in order to exploit
almost all the solar
spectrum

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