SOLAR CELL

Introduction
Principle of solar cell
Construction of solar cell
Working of solar cell
Types of solar cell
Generation of solar cell
Advantages & disadvantages of solar cell
Applications of solar energy
Figures for illustration
 INTRODUCTION
 Solar cell is the photovoltaic device that convert the light
energy (which come from sun) into electrical energy
This device work on the principle of photovoltaic effect
Photovoltaic device: The generation of voltage across the
PN junction in a semiconductor due to the absorption of
light radiation is called photovoltaic effect. The devices
based on this effect is called photovoltaic device.
 HISTORY OF SOLAR CELL
 1839: French scientist Edmond Becquerel first discovered
Photovoltaic Effect.
This process occurs when light is absorbed by a material and
creates electrical voltage. Most morden solar cell used
silicon crystal to attain this effect
 PRINCIPLE OF SOLAR CELL
 The solar cell are based on the principle of photovoltaic effect.
The photovoltaic effect is the photogeneration of charge carriers in a light
absorbing materials as a results of absorption of light.

Single Solar cell

 STRUCTURE OF SOLAR CELL
Solar cell is an electronic device which
directly converts sunlight into electricity.
Light shining on the solar cell produces both a
current and a voltage to generate electric power.
This process requires firstly, a material in
which the absorption of light raises an electron
to a higher energy state, and secondly, the
movement of this higher energy electron from
the solar cell into an external circuit. The
electron then dissipates its energy in the
external circuit and returns to the solar cell.
 CONSTRUCTION OF SOLAR CELL
 Solar cell (crystalline silicon) consists of a n-type semiconductor
(emitter) layer and p-type semiconductor layer (base). The two layers are
sandwiched and hence there is formation of p-n junction
 The surface is coated with anti-refection coating to avoid the loss of
incident light energy due to reflection.
A proper metal contacts are made on the n-type and p-type side of the
semiconductor for electrical connection
 WORKING OF SOLAR CELL

 When a Solar panel exposed to sunlight,

the light energy are absorbed by a
semiconductor materials
Due to this absorbed energy, the electrons are
liberated and produced the external DC
current.
 The DC current is converted into 240-volt AC
current using an inverter for different
applications
 TYPES OF SOLAR CELL
Based on the types of crystal used, soar cells can be classified as:
 Monocrystalline silicon cells
 Polycrystalline silicon cells
 Amorphous silicon cells
 The monocrystalline silicon cell is produced from pure silicon (single crystal).
Since the monocrystalline silicon is pure and defect free, the efficiency of cell will
be higher.
 In polycrystalline silicon, liquid silicon is used as raw material and polycrystalline
silicon was obtained by various crystalline sizes. Hence the efficiency of this type is
less than monocrystalline cell.
 TYPES OF SOLAR CELL

 Amorphous silicon was obtained by depositing silicon film on the

substrate like glass plate.
- The layer thickness amounts to less than 1 μm
- The efficiency of amorphous cell is much lower than that of the other
two cell types
- As a result, they are used mainly in low power equipment, such as
watches and pocket calculators, or as façade elements
COMPARISION OF TYPES OF SOLAR CELL

Material Efficiency (%)

14-17
Monocrystalline silicon
13-15
Polycrystalline silicon
5-7
Amorphous silicon
 GENERATION OF SOLAR CELL
First Generation – Single Junction Silicon Cells
Single crystal silicon: 16-19% efficiency
Multi- crystal silicon: 14-15% efficiency
Best efficiency by sun power: 22%
 87.4% of 2007 production
 45.2% Single crystal silicon
 42.2 % Multi- crystal silicon
 GENERATION OF SOLAR CELL
Second Generation – Thin Film Cells
New materials and processes to improve efficiency and reduce cost
Thin film cells use about 1% of the expensive semiconductors compared to
the First Generator cell
Single crystal Si: 4.7 % efficiency & Multi- crystal silicon: 0.2 %
production
Single crystal Si: 8-11 % efficiency
Multi crystal Si has: 7-11 % efficiency
 GENERATION OF SOLAR CELL
Third Generation – multi – junction Cells
 Enhance poor electrical performance while maintaining very low
production costs
 Current research is targeting conversion efficiencies of 30-60% while
retaining low cost materials and manufacturing techniques
 Multi – junction cells -30% efficiency
 ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR CELL
 It is clean and non-polluting
 Solar cell do not produce noise and they are totally silent
 They require very little maintenance
Reduce production of green house of electricity
Reduce consumption of fossil fuels in the production of
electricity
It can be used in remote areas
 DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR
CELL
 It uses a special grade of Si which is expensive (Solar cell or solar
panels are very expensive)
 Energy has not been stored in batteries
Air pollution and whether can affect the production of electricity
They need large are of land to produce more efficient power supply
Sun does not shine consistently
Less efficient and costly equipment
Current produce in the form on DC
APPLICATION OF SOLAR ENERGY
 Domestic power supply
Electric power generation in space
Drying agricultural products
 solar pumps as used for water supply
Water heating
Generating electrical power
To providing electrical power to satellites
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