scholarly journals Extraction of Saturation Current and Ideality Factor from Measuring Voc and Isc of Photovoltaic Modules

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Ideality Factor ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Outdoor Exposure ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Saturation Current ◽  
Easy Method ◽  
Two Parameters

Saturation current (I0) and ideality factor (n) of a p-n junction solar cell are an indication of the quality of the cell. These two parameters are usually estimated from dark current-voltage measurements. In this study, a quick and easy method to determine these two parameters by measuring open-circuit, Voc, and short-circuit current, Isc, is presented. Solar cell designers can use this method as a grading or diagnostic tool to evaluate degradation in photovoltaic (PV) modules. In order to verify the Voc-Isc method, a series of experiments have been conducted on a single cell and a 36-cell module. Good agreement between our Voc-Isc method and dark I-V measurements was obtained. An application of the method on the performance degradation of a single-junction a-Si:H module revealed that the module’s I0 increased by more than three orders of magnitude and n increased by 65% after an outdoor exposure of 130 kWh/m2. This increase in n indicates that after exposure, the recombination current in the cells’ space charge region increased due to the light-induced formation of metastable defects. The method is also used to assess the quality of five PV module technologies and proved to be reliable despite defective cells in a module.

scholarly journals CdTe-Based Thin Film Solar Cells: Past, Present and Future

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1684
Author(s):  
Alessandro Romeo ◽  
Elisa Artegiani
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Short Circuit Current Density ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency

CdTe is a very robust and chemically stable material and for this reason its related solar cell thin film photovoltaic technology is now the only thin film technology in the first 10 top producers in the world. CdTe has an optimum band gap for the Schockley-Queisser limit and could deliver very high efficiencies as single junction device of more than 32%, with an open circuit voltage of 1 V and a short circuit current density exceeding 30 mA/cm2. CdTe solar cells were introduced at the beginning of the 70s and they have been studied and implemented particularly in the last 30 years. The strong improvement in efficiency in the last 5 years was obtained by a new redesign of the CdTe solar cell device reaching a single solar cell efficiency of 22.1% and a module efficiency of 19%. In this paper we describe the fabrication process following the history of the solar cell as it was developed in the early years up to the latest development and changes. Moreover the paper also presents future possible alternative absorbers and discusses the only apparently controversial environmental impacts of this fantastic technology.

scholarly journals GaInP/GaAs/poly-Si Multi-Junction Solar Cells by in Metal Balls Bonding

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 726
Author(s):  
Ray-Hua Horng ◽  
Yu-Cheng Kao ◽  
Apoorva Sood ◽  
Po-Liang Liu ◽  
Wei-Cheng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Metal Line ◽  
Solar Simulator ◽  
Junction Solar Cell

In this study, a mechanical stacking technique has been used to bond together the GaInP/GaAs and poly-silicon (Si) solar wafers. A GaInP/GaAs/poly-Si triple-junction solar cell has mechanically stacked using a low-temperature bonding process which involves micro metal In balls on a metal line using a high-optical-transmission spin-coated glue material. Current–voltage measurements of the GaInP/GaAs/poly-Si triple-junction solar cells have carried out at room temperature both in the dark and under 1 sun with 100 mW/cm2 power density using a solar simulator. The GaInP/GaAs/poly-Si triple-junction solar cell has reached an efficiency of 24.5% with an open-circuit voltage of 2.68 V, a short-circuit current density of 12.39 mA/cm2, and a fill-factor of 73.8%. This study demonstrates a great potential for the low-temperature micro-metal-ball mechanical stacking technique to achieve high conversion efficiency for solar cells with three or more junctions.

Enhancement of the performance of CdS/CdTe heterojunction solar cell using TiO2/ZnO bi-layer ARC and V2O5 BSF layers: A simulation approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 20901
Author(s):  
Abdul Kuddus ◽  
Md. Ferdous Rahman ◽  
Jaker Hossain ◽  
Abu Bakar Md. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Photovoltaic Performance ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Short Circuit Current Density ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Heterojunction Solar Cell ◽  
Back Surface ◽  
Heterojunction Solar Cells

This article presents the role of Bi-layer anti-reflection coating (ARC) of TiO2/ZnO and back surface field (BSF) of V2O5 for improving the photovoltaic performance of Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) based heterojunction solar cells (HJSCs). The simulation was performed at different concentrations, thickness, defect densities of each active materials and working temperatures to optimize the most excellent structure and working conditions for achieving the highest cell performance using obtained optical and electrical parameters value from the experimental investigation on spin-coated CdS, CdTe, ZnO, TiO2 and V2O5 thin films deposited on the glass substrate. The simulation results reveal that the designed CdS/CdTe based heterojunction cell offers the highest efficiency, η of ∼25% with an enhanced open-circuit voltage, Voc of 0.811 V, short circuit current density, Jsc of 38.51 mA cm−2, fill factor, FF of 80% with bi-layer ARC and BSF. Moreover, it appears that the TiO2/ZnO bi-layer ARC, as well as ETL and V2O5 as BSF, could be highly promising materials of choice for CdS/CdTe based heterojunction solar cell.

An Improved Triple-Tandem Organic Solar Cell

2009 ◽  
Vol 1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewei Zhao ◽  
Xiao Wei Sun ◽  
Lin Ke ◽  
Swee Tiam Tan
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Organic Solar Cells ◽  
Organic Solar Cell ◽  
Copper Phthalocyanine ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
The Third

AbstractWe present an efficient polymer-small molecule triple-tandem organic solar cell (OSC), consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6)C61 (PCBM) bulk heterojunction as the first and second cells, and small molecules copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and fullerene (C60) as the third cell on top. These sub-cells are connected by an intermediate layer of Al(1 nm)/MoO3(15 nm), which appears to be highly transparent, structurally smooth, and electrically functional. Compared to our previous all polymer triple-tandem organic solar cells (2.03%), this polymer-small molecule triple-tandem organic solar cell achieves an improved power conversion efficiency of 2.18% with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) = 3.02 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) = 1.51 V, and fill factor (FF) = 47.7% under simulated solar irradiation of 100 mW/cm2 (AM1.5G), which can be attributed to the increased photocurrent generation in the third cell since the third cell has the complementary absorption with two bottom cells despite a slightly reduced Voc.

Study of Photoelectrochemical Solar Cell Using WSe2 Crystal

2013 ◽  
Vol 665 ◽  
pp. 330-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ripal Parmar ◽  
Dipak Sahay ◽  
R.J. Pathak ◽  
R.K. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Fill Factor ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Cell Parameters ◽  
Photoelectrochemical Solar Cell ◽  
Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells

The solar cells have been used as most promising device to convert light energy into electrical energy. In this paper authors have attempted to fabricate Photoelectrochemical solar cell with semiconductor electrode using TMDCs. The Photoelectrochemical solar cells are the solar cells which convert the solar energy into electrical energy. The photoelectrochemical cells are clean and inexhaustible sources of energy. The photoelectrochemical solar cells are fabricated using WSe2crystal and electrolyte solution of 0.025M I2, 0.5M NaI, 0.5M Na2SO4. Here the WSe2crystals were grown by direct vapour transport technique. In our investigations the solar cell parameters like short circuit current (Isc) and Open circuit voltage (Voc) were measured and from that Fill factor (F.F.) and photoconversion efficiency (η) are investigated. The results obtained shows that the value of efficiency and fill factor of solar cell varies with the illumination intensities.

scholarly journals Simulation of a perovskite sandwich solar cell with the p-CZTS / p-CH3NH3PbCI3 / p-CZTS absorber layers

2021 ◽  
Vol 877 (1) ◽  
pp. 012001
Author(s):  
Marwah S Mahmood ◽  
N K Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Current Density ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Perovskite Solar Cells ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Short Circuit Current Density ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
Cell Capacitance

Abstract Perovskite solar cells attract the attention because of their unique properties in photovoltaic cells. Numerical simulation to the structure of Perovskite on p-CZTS/p-CH3NH3PbCI3/p-CZTS absorber layers is performed by using a program solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D), with changing absorber layer thickness. The effect of thickness p-CZTS/p-CH3NH3PbCI3/p-CZTS, layers at (3.2μm, 1.8 μm, 1.1 μm) respectively are studied. The obtained results are short circuit current density (Jsc ), open circuit voltage (V oc), fill factor (F. F) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) equal to (28 mA/cm2, 0.83 v, 60.58 % and 14.25 %) respectively at 1.1 μm thickness. Our findings revealed that the dependence of current - voltage characteristics on the thickness of the absorbing layers, an increase in the amount of short circuit current density with an increase in the thickness of the absorption layers and thus led to an increase in the conversion efficiency and improvement of the cell by increasing the thickness of the absorption layers.

scholarly journals Optimized Thin-Film Organic Solar Cell with Enhanced Efficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13087
Author(s):  
Waqas Farooq ◽  
Muhammad Ali Musarat ◽  
Javed Iqbal ◽  
Syed Asfandyar Ali Kazmi ◽  
Adnan Daud Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Organic Solar Cell ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Short Circuit Current Density ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Bragg Reflector ◽  
Performance Parameters ◽  
Distributed Bragg Reflector

Modification of a cell’s architecture can enhance the performance parameters. This paper reports on the numerical modeling of a thin-film organic solar cell (OSC) featuring distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) pairs. The utilization of DBR pairs via the proposed method was found to be beneficial in terms of increasing the performance parameters. The extracted results showed that using DBR pairs helps capture the reflected light back into the active region by improving the photovoltaic parameters as compared to the structure without DBR pairs. Moreover, implementing three DBR pairs resulted in the best enhancement gain of 1.076% in power conversion efficiency. The measured results under a global AM of 1.5G were as follows: open circuit voltage (Voc) = 0.839 V; short circuit current density (Jsc) = 10.98 mA/cm2; fill factor (FF) = 78.39%; efficiency (η) = 11.02%. In addition, a thermal stability analysis of the proposed design was performed and we observed that high temperature resulted in a decrease in η from 11.02 to 10.70%. Our demonstrated design may provide a pathway for the practical application of OSCs.

IODINE/IODIDE-FREE AND POLYMER HETEROJUNCTION-SENSITIZED HYBRID SOLAR CELL

2012 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 1260004 ◽  
Author(s):  
GENTIAN YUE ◽  
JIHUAI WU ◽  
YUNFANG HUANG ◽  
YAOMING XIAOMING XIAO ◽  
ZHANG LAN
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Acid Methyl Ester ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Energy Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Hybrid Solar Cell ◽  
Light Transport ◽  
Simulated Solar Light

An iodine/iodide-free and polymer heterojunction-sensitized hybrid solar cell is fabricated by using 6,6-phenyl- C61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as electronic acceptor, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as donor and TiO2 film as substrate. The PCBM–P3HT heterojunction can harvest ultraviolet-visible light, transport charge carriers, replacing the dyes and electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cell. The cell with a PCBM/P3HT ratio of 1:2 shows a short circuit current of 5.47 mA⋅cm-2, an open circuit voltage of 0.849 V, a fill factor of 0.640 and a light-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 2.97% under a simulated solar light irradiation of 100 mW⋅cm-2.

scholarly journals Analytical Study of the Electrical Output Characteristics of c-Si Solar Cells by Cut and Shading Phenomena

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Lim ◽  
Woo Shin ◽  
Hyemi Hwang ◽  
Young-Chul Ju ◽  
Suk Ko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Incident Light ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Si Solar Cells ◽  
Electrical Output

Cut solar cells have received considerable attention recently as they can reduce electrical output degradation when the c-Si solar cells (crystalline-silicon solar cells) are shaded. Cut c-Si solar cells have a lower short-circuit current than normal solar cells and the decrease in short-circuit currents is similar to the shading effect of c-Si solar cells. However, the results of this study’s experiment show that the shadow effect of a c-Si solar cell reduces the V o c (open circuit voltage) in the c-Si solar cell but the V o c does not change when the c-Si solar cell is cut because the amount of incident light does not change. In this paper, the limitations of the electrical power analysis of the cut solar cells were identified when only photo current was considered and the analysis of the electric output of the cut c-Si solar cells was interpreted with a method different from that used in previous analyses. Electrical output was measured when the shaded and cut rates of c-Si solar cells were increased from 0% to 25, 50 and 75%, and a new theoretical model was compared with the experimental results using MATLAB.

HIT Solar Cell With V2Ox Window Layer

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (53) ◽  
pp. 3147-3156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erenn Ore ◽  
Gehan Amaratunga ◽  
Stefaan De Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Physical Vapor Deposition ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Window Layer ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Vapor Deposition Technique

ABSTRACTIn the conventional crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell with the intrinsic thin layer structure (the HIT solar cell), a p-doped thin film silicon or its alloy (pDTF-Si/A) is used as the hole collecting window layer. However, the parasitic absorbance in the pDTF-Si/A window layer, and the toxic, explosive diborane gas used for p-doping are limiting factors for achieving HIT cells with reduced processing costs and / or higher efficiencies. In this work, pDTF-Si/A is replaced by V2Ox, which is deposited by a simple physical vapor deposition technique. Due to the wide band gap of V2Ox, the HIT solar cell with the V2Ox window layer generates a higher short-circuit current density than the reference conventional HIT cell under 1 sun, and achieves an open-circuit voltage of 0.7 V. Furthermore, the charge carrier lifetime and pseudo-efficiency values of the HIT solar cell with the V2Ox window layer indicate that this cell has the potential to outperform the conventional HIT cell in terms of the power conversation efficiency under the standard test conditions.

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