Welcome back.

In this segment we're going to introduce the basics of

electricity and circuits that we'll later apply to photovoltaics. By the end
of this segment you should be able to identify the important parts of a
simple direct current or DC electrical circuit. You should also be able to
describe the differences between series and parallel wiring and finally
be able to define the differences in current flow for direct current and
alternating current or AC circuits. Let's begin by looking at a very basic
circuit diagram. All circuit diagrams must illustrate a circuit. That is a
complete path for electricity to flow. All circuit diagrams we'll use will
have a power source and is typically identified as a long and a short line
for DC sources parallel to each other and perpendicular to the wire. The
power source generates the voltage and current in the circuit. As a
reminder, voltages, the push of electrical energy and equates the
potential difference of between the electrical signal and the ground.
The current is the flow rate of the electricity in the circuit. We'll talk
more about this DC, direct current in a little bit. The power source is
then connected to a load and the load provides a resistance to flow of
electricity. It's the device or item that uses the electrical energy
essentially. This could be a heater, a refrigerator, air conditioner or
lighting. For photovoltaic, the load is actually the inverter or the battery
in the photovoltaic circuit. But all cases there has to be some sort of
resistance. The last item within the circuit is the wiring itself or the
conductor. The conductors are pieces of metal wiring that connect the
power source to the load, as well as, any other circuitry component
that we might have. Let's begin with looking at ways we can connect
power sources together to vary electrical outputs. One wiring method
is series wiring, which is when we connect power sources in a way that
provides one path of current flow. You've probably seen this electronic
devices such as a flashlight where you put two or more batteries in a
row, plus to minus, plus to minus. This increases the overall system

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voltage, so it sums the voltages of the power source. But if you break
the circuit in some way the whole system no longer functions. So in a
series string of photovoltaic modules there's only one path for current
flow which increases the overall system voltage, but the current is
limited to the module with the lowest single output current. So as an
example, suppose we have three identical photovoltaic modules. When
wired in series, the voltages would all add together, but the current
output would be equal to the lowest current device. So for example, if
we have three modules in a series string operating at 40 volts in six
amps the total voltage would be 120 volts, 40 plus 40 plus 40. But the
current would only be six amps. The other way the cells could be wired
together will be using parallel wiring. In parallel wiring there's multiple
paths for current flow, and all of the pluses are wired together and all
the minuses are wired together. Device current is additive in this case,
but voltage is fixed to the lowest voltage device. Using our previous
example, if we have three modules at 40 volts and six amps all
connected in parallel, the system voltage would be 40 volts, but the
system current would output 18 amps. Note that in both cases power is
the same, 720 watts. You either have to choose adding current or
adding voltage. Photovoltaics are typically wired series which keeps
voltage high and current low. This also decreases losses from
resistance. Now, let's talk about how the current flows in and through
photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaics are DC or direct current devices where
current travels at a fixed value above ground or what we consider
neutral. Electrons travel from the negative terminal to the positive
terminal. The other type of current flow is alternating current or AC.
Alternating current is the case where electrical signal alternate above
and below ground, essentially current fluctuates between a positive
and a negative voltage. Electricity in the grid from utilities is AC and the
frequency of fluctuation is fixed. In the United States and throughout

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North, Central and good portion South America that frequency is 60
hertz. In Europe most of Africa and most of Asia and Australia that
frequency is 50 hertz. Direct current is not commonly utility-based
power, but it is the electro electrical signal that's output by
photovoltaics batteries, fuel cells in most electronics. Direct current
cells are typically labeled by that long short, long short line that we
showed in the first image of the circuit. However, alternating currents
circuits are symbolized by what looks like a sine wave that goes up and
down. It's a reference to that signal fluctuation. So that's the way you
tell the difference between alternating current and direct current
devices. In the next segment we'll begin to identify these electrical
components in a photovoltaic circuit. Hello. In the next couple of
segments, we'll be looking at components of a photovoltaic circuit. By
the end of these lessons, you should be able to relate semiconductor
properties to electricity generation in photovoltaics, you should be able
to explain how a photovoltaic cell functions within a DC circuit, and you
should be able to measure current and voltage in a photovoltaic
module. Finally, you should also be able to define and evaluate the
characteristics of an I-V curve. Let's begin by looking back to a basic
circuit where there's a power source, a load, and the conductors. Let's
drill down a little bit closer to see how the photovoltaic device becomes
that power in the power source. As you might recall from the first
course, a photovoltaic is made of a semiconductor material having a
negative or N-layer and a positive or P-layer. When photons or particles
of sunlight hit the surface of that semiconductor, electrons within the
material gain energy and are put into an excited state. In the case of
photovoltaics, excited electrons move from the N-layer through the top
contacts of the solar cell. Then the electrical energy is sent through the
wire to a load where the energy is transferred, and the electrons return
back to the bottom contact of a photovoltaic. This is a circuit, so the

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electrons always have to have a complete path. Since this is an
electrical circuit as well, we should be able to measure two of the
important characteristics, voltage and current to determine power. But
what's the origin of the voltage and the current in a photovoltaic? Well,
the voltage in a photovoltaic cell is defined by the size of the band gap,
or what we call the energy difference between the N-layer and the P-
layer of that photovoltaic material. For silicon which is the primary
material for all photovoltaics today, it has a defined voltage of 0.5 volts,
or about one-third the size of a double a battery. Since the voltage is
defined by the material and not the size of the material, all silicon
photovoltaics will have this voltage, and only by wiring in series can we
increase that voltage. Current in a photovoltaic is different however. It's
related to the amount of sunlight that hits that cell. Well, why is this?
More sunlight or solar energy means more photons. More photons
equates to more electrons being excited. The number of excited
electrons that move through the circuit is equal to the current of the
cell. It's not however equal to the number of photons that initially hit
the cell. Meaning that not every photon generates a mobile electron. In
fact, it's the ratio between electron current and photon energy that
gives us the efficiency of our cell. Once electrons are excited, they move
through the conductors to the load and dissipate their energy. Then
return back to the P-side or back of the solar cell. This is a very simple
way of looking at how current flows in a photovoltaic circuit. But it
works for this example. In the next segment, we'll look at how voltage
and current can be measured within a photovoltaic module in an array.
In this segment, we'll continue looking at electricity in photovoltaics by
learning how to measure some of the key electrical parameters: voltage
and current. These two values are important because the voltage
multiplied by the current equals the power. We're always looking at
power to evaluate system function and performance. Jumping right in,

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voltage which is the system potential, needs to be measured outside
this circuit. We do that using a voltmeter. A voltmeter essentially has
infinite resistance so no current flows through it. Current which is the
other measurement is measured inline so electricity will actually flow
through the meter. This can be potentially unsafe or difficult to do in
practice. So, the other way to measure current is to use a clamp on
meter which measures the electromagnetic field generated by moving
electrons and then they just convert that value to a current. In practice,
a clamp on meter is almost always used since it's much safer and easier.
Remembering that once we have the voltage in the current, we can
multiply them together to get the power output of the individual
module or the array. We can subject the module to standard test
conditions and measure the voltage and current generated by the cell.
The product of those two is the power or watts. Because this is done
under standard test conditions, it also equates to the name plate rating
of the module or the array. So, how can we measure current and
voltage within the cellular module? Well, voltage is essentially constant
because it's defined by the material itself. However, it does vary
somewhat with temperature. Something that we'll look at in the future
module. Current however, scales linearly with brightness. Well, it too
has some slight variations with temperature. Higher radiance means
more photons, and more photons means more electron movement. So,
current increases with brightness. By knowing voltage and current
values under certain conditions, we can define both the power and the
performance of the cell. One important value is something called the
open circuit voltage or VOC, which is the highest voltage that can be
generated by the cell. Physically, this only occurs when there is no
current flowing through the system. In everyday life, it's equivalent to
having a battery that's not connected to anything. There is a potential
or push between the two poles and the battery but there's no current

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flow. The other important value is the short circuit current or ISC, which
is the highest current output by the cell. This equates to the flow of
electrons when there is no resistance in the circuit. This would be the
electrical equivalent to putting a wire with no load or resistance
between the two poles of the battery. The enlist say don't do this. But
the VOC and the ISC are two extremes for voltage and current. These
are typically placed on a graph with voltage on the x-axis and current on
the y-axis and that is known as an I-V curve. By increasing the load on
the cell through increasing resistance, a cell will move from the ISC
point to the VOC point generating this curve. Adding resistance is the
only way power can be extracted from the cell. In reality, this is the role
of the battery or the inverter. Recalling that voltage multiplied by
current equals power. At some point along this curve there's a point of
maximum power. Notice the maximum power point. It's symbolized as
P-max or MPP. The power is zero at ISC because the voltage is zero and
the power is zero at VOC because the current is zero. The maximum
power point is going to be the furthest point from the graph origin and
the voltage at that point is defined as VMP or voltage at maximum
power. The current is defined as IMP or current at maximum power. In
reality, we can continuously add resistance and measure the current
and voltage and calculate the power at each point with the largest
product being the maximum power point. Why does this work? The
photovoltaic follows one of the fundamental laws of electricity, Ohm's
Law, which states that voltage is equal to the current multiplied by the
resistance or V equals IR. Mathematically, when the resistance is zero
the voltage must also be zero. This is because there's no potential
difference between the electrical signal and ground. Likewise when the
resistance is infinitely large, the current is also zero because no
electrons can flow through the circuit. This matches what we observe in
reality as well. This IV curve is used to help us evaluate individual solar

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cell performance using a term called fill factor. The fill factor is a ratio of
the measured power to the maximum possible power. The measured
power is the voltage times the current at maximum power. The short-
circuit current ISC, multiplied by the open circuit voltage VOC, yields the
highest theoretical power. The ratio of the actual maximum power, the
theoretical maximum, represents the performance quality of the cell
because it shows losses from internal resistance of the cell. An ideal
solar cell would have the same current as resistance increases and then
drop to zero at VOC. In reality, the fill factors for solar cells tend to be
around 70-80 percent and that fill factor decreases slightly over time
due to degradation of the conductors or other materials within the cell.
While the fill factor is not typically reported photovoltaic modules, it's
the physical manifestation of the cell efficiency since it defines how
good that cell is at converting photon energy to electrical energy and
putting it through a circuit. So, let us now look at how to use these
important values: VOC, ISC, VMP, IMP, and P-max to calculate fill factor.
So in this case, I am using a generic specification sheet where the short
circuit current ISC is 8.2 amps, the open-circuit voltage is 37.1 volts, the
maximum power current is 7.7 amps, and the maximum power voltage
is 30.1 volts. Well, if I multiply the open-circuit voltage by the short
circuit current, the product is 304 watts. So, the power at the top of
that corner of the orange square is 304 watts. Likewise if I multiply the
maximum power current by the maximum power voltage, I get 232
watts which is actually the power rating on the panel. That is where the
point is of the blue square. Now, if I divide the 232 watts which is the
maximum power of the cell by the 304 watts which is the theoretical
maximum of the short circuit current multiplied by the open-circuit
voltage, I get a ratio or a fill factor of 0.76 or 76 percent. Now that
we've looked at how to measure these values and perform the
calculations, in the next segment we'll look at how to calculate

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photovoltaic system efficiency and power from that system as well as
look at the components of a photovoltaic circuit from sunlight through
to the external system. In this segment, we're going to look at electrical
output for different types of solar photovoltaic modules and arrays. By
the end of the segment, you should be able to calculate the efficiency
of a photovoltaic cell as well as a module and evaluate the output of
different photovoltaic modules. Let's begin by reexamining the
definition of efficiency in a photovoltaic cell. Efficiency is defined as the
power out divided by the power in multiplied by 100. For photovoltaics,
that's typically measured in units of watts per square meter. As a
reminder, a watt is electrically equivalent to voltage multiplied by
current. For sunlight, we measure irradiance or wattage per square
meter using something like a pyranometer. Generally, this is done using
a portable power meter or under standard test conditions. If we look at
just the cell itself, the length and the width might be as small as 15
centimeters by 15 centimeters. This gives an area of 225 square
centimeters. The voltage would be 0.5 volts because the voltage is fixed
for a silicon photovoltaic. But the current could be as high as 8.1 amps.
Calculating the power output, 0.5 volts multiplied by 8.1 amperes, we
see we get a power of 4.05 watts being produced by the cell. Scaling
standard test conditions where irradiance is 1000 watts per square
meter, we get 22.5 watts irradiating the small 225 square centimeter
cell. We now have 4.05 watts of electrical output divided by 22.5 watts
of irradiance for the cell area, multiplying by 100, this gives us an
efficiency of 18 percent which is pretty good. This calculation scales the
irradiance to the area of the cell. Next, we'll scale the area of the cell to
standard test conditions for one square meter. Let's now take this
calculation for a single cell and expand it to a whole module, as an
alternative way to calculate the power and efficiency over one square
meter. For a module, the area that we considers the whole footprint of

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the module, not just the area of the photovoltaic themselves, which is
referred to as the active area. Looking at an older solar cell design
where cells were circular, an individual cell could be 4.05 watts like in
the previous example with an area of 225 square centimeters. If we put
those individual cells with the same efficiency into a module that
contains 72 cells, we would multiply the 4.05 watts by 72 cells, and we
would get potential power output of the whole module being 291
watts. All the cells would sum to be 225 square centimeters times 72
cells or 1.62 square meters. It's pretty large. At minimum, the module is
going to be larger than the sum of the individual cell areas though,
because the closest you can pack any circular object with other circular
objects is about 91 percent of its total area. That doesn't even include
the framing or other pieces that are involved in the module. This
equates to 291 watts per 1.78 meters or 163 watts per square meter.
Dividing that by the 1000 watts per square meter at STC and multiplying
by 100, equals an efficiency of 16.3 percent. Efficiency dropped from 18
to 16.3 or roughly a nine percent loss, from the cell to the module
simply because I'm using round cells. The take-home message is that
measuring module efficiency needs to account for the area of the
module not just the solar cell. Significant advances were made in the
past one to two decades regarding manufacturing and the shape of that
solar cell. Originally, the cell was circular and then had a rounded
square cell or a truncated circle shape, and then after that, from
crystalline silicon after that, while this increased packing efficiency,
there still were small diamond shapes between the cells. Current
polycrystalline cells have a square shape. So, while the individual
efficiency of the polycrystalline cell is still lower than single crystal, they
can be packed much more tightly together, so the area of the
photovoltaic module is almost equivalent to the area of the individual
cell multiplied by the number of cells. This significantly improves the

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overall module efficiency by area. Recently, larger modules have
become much more attractive, since there's a larger ratio of active area
or PV area relative to the inactive frame area. There are limits on size
however due to the manufacturing limits, losses due to series
connections, and weights that are reasonable for rooftop installers.
There are some spacing limits when modules are tilted on rooftops or
ground top system, in order to prevent shading from one module to the
other. Building code also has limits on module coverage from the
bottom and sides of a rooftop. Because the efficiency of the cell
compared to the module compared to the array can sometimes be
unclear, we simply take the power output of one module and multiply it
by the number of modules in the system or the array, rather than
considering the efficiency of the PV system. For example, a cell could be
18 percent efficient and 72 of those cells wired in series yield an
efficiency of 16.3 percent. Ten of those modules are spaced according
to function and code limits, giving 15 percent efficiency for the array.
This creates confusion and ambiguity which is why the module power is
used, which is rated on standard test conditions or STC. Now that we've
looked at how to calculate efficiency for individual modules and arrays,
we're going to look at different wiring schemes in the next segment and
how those manifest into different types of IV curves. We'll also look at a
different and additional piece of PV component tree which is the
bypass diode. In this segment, we'll be looking at some of the electrical
characteristics in photovoltaic arrays. By the end of the segment, you
should be able to explain current and voltage looming behaviors in
photovoltaic arrays using IV curves. You should be able to determine
the total voltage, current, and power in an array of modules and you
should be able to explain the role of a bypass diode in a photovoltaic
module in array. Let's start by reviewing an IV curve. Remember from
the previous segment, in IV curve plots voltage V on the x axis and

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current I on the y axis. We looked at the short-circuit current where the
voltage is zero and the open-circuit voltage where the current is zero,
which are at the two extremes of the I-V curve. By connecting those
two and increasing the load on the system, we eventually get to the
maximum power point, which is the product of the voltage and the
current at its maximum on the curve. This is the power that we would
see rated on a photovoltaic module. Let's look a little bit closer at what
happens to modules when they're wired together. If we make series
connections, modules are connected in this positive to negative format,
which increases the voltage. In this case, two identical modules wired in
series would show an IV curve where the voltage increases and the
current is equivalent to the current of one module. However, if we have
two modules where one short-circuit current is lower than the other,
the modules wired in series will still have an additive voltage, but the
system current will be limited to the module with the lowest short-
circuit current. This is the primary reason why wouldn't never want to
wire modules together in series with different current specifications. If
we did so, the power of any module with higher current would just be
wasted. If we wire modules in parallel, current is additive now, and the
voltage is limited to the module with the lowest open circuit voltage. If
we look at two modules with identical open-circuit voltages, the
current will simply add on top of one another. However, if we have two
modules where the open-circuit voltage differs, we're going to be
limited by the module that has the lower open-circuit voltage. While
the principle of limiting maximum power remains the same, in reality,
it's less relevant though because of photovoltaic modules tend to be
wired in series to keep the total system current low. An IV curve can be
very helpful to help us visualize how current and voltage work together
to yield the power output of an array. The next thing to consider is
what happens as current flows through a single module as well as

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through an array of modules. Recall from the first course that modules
consist of numerous solar cells wired in series. So, we can think of the
electrical current as running throughout the whole module cell by cell
by cell. This extends to each module being connected in series as well.
Any single-cell, one module that stops producing current becomes an
electron sink rather than an electron source. This might happen when a
module is shaded or otherwise faulty. This interrupts the continuous
movement of the electrons, which decreases the operating current of
the module or the array. Let's take a look at what happens when a
module wired in series undergoes some shading. We see that the
current is about 3.2 amps right now. However, if I shade just one cell,
we see that that drops down to 1.6 to almost 1.7 amps. However,
blocking even less than a quarter of that panel brings my current all the
way down to less than 0.15 amps and of course then blocking the
whole cell breaks down to zero. So, this shows that when we have a
shading, current can't flow through the cells. Instead, the cells become
an electron sink rather than electron source. To prevent this from
happening, a circuit component called a bypass diode is installed in
modules. So, current is diverted around cells that acts as a sink,
meaning that they are taking incurrent versus producing it. One or two
bypass diodes are typically placed in a module creating circuits
segments. If a cell in that segment stops producing current or current
that's lower than the rest of the module, electrons will be diverted and
instead of going through, they'll pass by and go through the rest of the
cells in other segments in the module. The voltage will decrease
according to the number of cells that are removed from that segment,
but the current will not go down since the cells are wired in series. If
diodes weren't used, the current would back feed and instead of that
cell producing current, it would essentially absorb or taken that current,
which could potentially overheat the whole module. For example, this

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module is made of 36 cells wired in series, 18 on one side and 18 on the
other. They are electrically separated in the middle and there's a break
here, that break is where we would find the bypass diode that
electrically separates the two sides. If one side of the module would go
down, then the other side would be working. The downside to any
bypass diode is that it lowers the operating voltage slightly, usually less
than one volt. This small decrease however prevents the current and
power loss that would occur. This more than makes up for the missing
voltage. Bypass diodes are put in by the module manufacturers and are
not typically serviceable. Likewise, if we have one module that is
nonfunctional or has a lower output than the other modules in a series
string, we can put in a blocking diode. A blocking diode in an array is
essentially the same as a bypass diode within a module and prevents
back feeding from other modules or sources like battery systems. Back
feeding from battery would occur when the battery is at a higher
voltage than the module during say, non-operational times like at night.
One can think of a bypass diode as a one-way valve that only allows
electrons to flow out of the module, but not back in. This increases the
overall energy output, reliability, and safety of a photovoltaic module.
In the next module, we'll determine how to size photovoltaic systems
under real operating conditions.
Bypass diodes vs. blocking diodes So what is the difference
between bypass diodes and blocking diodes? Bypass and
blocking diodes are drawn using the same symbol in electrical
diagrams, and in fact both are physically the same type of diode,
called a Schottky diode or a Schottky barrier diode. The
distinction between the two is really in how they are connected
into a PV system. Bypass diodes are connected in parallel to a
part of the system, creating a second pathway for current to flow.
So within a PV module, bypass diodes are connected in parallel
to circuit segments of cells, allowing the current to flow around, or
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bypass, a segment that becomes a current sink. In an array, a
bypass diode might be connected in parallel around a whole PV
module, creating a path for current around that module if it
becomes a current sink. Blocking diodes are connected into an
array circuit in series. In this role, the diode is working as a one
way valve for current. Since it is connected in series, there is only
one path for current flow through the diode, and current is only
able to flow in one direction along that single circuit path because
of the diode. Common applications of a blocking diode might be to
prevent current from back feeding from batteries into the PV array
under low light conditions, or they might be put on the end of
multiple series strings before they are combined in parallel to
prevent current from one string flowing into another if their
production becomes unbalanced.

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