ECE-305: Spring 2016

Solar Cell Fundamentals

Professor Mark Lundstrom
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA
lundstro@purdue.edu

Pierret, Semiconductor Device Fundamentals (SDF)

pp. 356-361
Lundstrom ECE 305 S16
3/22/16
 Solar cells

modern Si solar cell

Chapin, Pearson, Fuller, 1954

http://www.bell-labs.com/org/physicalsciences/timeline/span10.html#
2
 solar cells today

3 SunPower http://us.sunpower.com
 recombination and dark current
minority carriers injected across junction

Fn qVA FP

ID
− VA +

Every time a minority electron recombines on the p-

4 side, one electron flows in the
Lundstrom external
ECE 305 S16 current.
 generation and current
minority carriers collected by junction hf > EG

Fn qVA FP

IL < 0

Every time a minority electron is generated and collected

by the PN junction, one electron flows in the external
Lundstrom ECE 305 S16
5 current.
 light and dark current

I ( mA )
hf > EG ( )
I D = I 0 eqVA /kBT − 1

dark current

VD
≈ 0.7 V

photocurrent
IL < 0

Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

6
 solar cell operation

1) Light generates e-h pairs

EF

Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

7
 solar cell operation
2) PN junction collects e-h pairs 3) Current flows through load
IL < 0

EF ID > 0
RL

− VL +

forward bias across PN

junction develops
Lundstrom ECE 305 S16
8
 solar cell operation
4) Forward bias reduces current 5) IV characteristic is a
superposition

(
I TOT = I 0 eqVD kBT
)
− 1 − I SC
Fn qVD Fp

diode (dark) light-generated

current current

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9
 IV characteristic
(
I D = I 0 eqVD kBT
)
−1
(
I TOT = I 0 eqVD kBT
)
− 1 − I SC
ID

Pout I SCVOC FF
η= =
Pin Pin
VOC
VD

Pout = I TOT VOC = 0

−I SC

Pout = −I SCVD = 0
PD = I TOT VD < 0
Pout = I mpVmp = −I SCVOC FF
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 solar cell efficiency

Pout I SCVOC FF
η= =
Pin Pin

1) Short circuit current

2) Open-circuit voltage

3) Fill factor

11 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

 1) Maximum short circuit current
Example: Silicon Eg = 1.1eV. Only photons with a wavelength < 1.13 µm
will be absorbed.

hc
λ<
EG
solar
J SC max
= 44 mA cm 2
spectrum
(AM1.5G)
Pin = 100 mW cm 2

12
 2) Open-circuit voltage

( )
I TOT = I 0 eqV /kBT − 1 − I SC

( )
I TOT = 0 = I 0 eqVOC /kBT − 1 − I SC

kBT ⎛ I SC ⎞
( )
I 0 eqVOC /kBT − 1 = I SC VOC =
q
ln ⎜
⎝ I 0 ⎟⎠

VOC ≈ 0.7 V

13 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

 Increasing VOC
n+

⎛ Dn ni2 ⎞
I 0 = qA ⎜
⎝ WP N A ⎟⎠
p-Si

Δn ( 0 ) = ( ni2 N A ) ( eqVA kBT

− 1)

Δn ( x )
Δn ( x )

W p << Ln
14 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16
0 WP
 3) Efficiency

(
I D = I 0 eqVD kBT
−1)
ID
Pout I SCVOC FF
η= =
Pin Pin
VOC
η≈
( 44 × 10 −3
)
A/cm × 0.7 V × 0.8
2
VD
100 × 10 −3 V/cm 2
≈ 25%
−I SC

15 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

 High efficiency Si solar cell

Pout I SCVOC FF
η= =
Pin Pin

370 − 400 µ m kBT ⎛ I SC ⎞

VOC = ln ⎜
q ⎝ I 0 ⎟⎠

J SC = 41.5 mA/cm 2 ( 94%)

VOC = 0.703 FF = 0.81

16 Martin Green Group UNSW – Zhao, et al., 1998 (24.5% at 1 sun)

 JSC – VOC Trade-off

“Shockley-Queisser Limit”

η ≈ 34% 1) Smaller bandgaps give higher

η short circuit current
VOC ↓ J SC ↓
2) Larger bandgaps give higher
open-circuit voltage

3) For the given solar spectrum, an

optimum bandgap exists.
EG
kBT ⎛ I SC ⎞
VOC = ln ⎜
q ⎝ I 0 ⎟⎠

17 I 0 ∝ ni2 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16

 solar cell summary

1) Light is absorbed and produces e-h pairs

2) PN junctions separate e-h pairs and collect the carriers.

3) Current flow in external circuit produces a FB voltage and

the FB diode current reduces the total current.

4) Power out is ISCVOC FF.

5) Unlike integrated circuit chips, where the value added

comes from the design/system, manufacturing costs are
critical in PV.

18 Lundstrom ECE 305 S16