Solar Cell Fundamentals

We will now treat the operating principle of a solar cell.
First is the ideal case, that is to say

asuming a perfect behavior.
Play video starting at 19 seconds and follow transcript0:19
This is what is explained in this slide. I remind you the principle of converting solar energy to
electricity, with two conditions to be met. First, we must absorb a photon. That is to say, induce
the transition of an electron from the valence bond that is full to the conduction band which is
empty or almost empty.
We thus excite an electron in the conduction bond.

As this bond is empty, it will tend to preferentially populate the lowest energy states. Part of the
energy will thus be lost by thermalization. The useful energy corresponds to the bond gap.
It is a optical observation phenomenon. Coming now to the device aspect, the p-n junction
diode which is characterized by the presence of an electric field as the interface between the n
and p regions. If a photogenerated carriers can diffuse to the space charge region they will be
separated by the filter. So separation of the carriers is a second condition to fulfill.
Play video starting at 1 minute 32 seconds and follow transcript1:32
Physically this means that the diffusion length of the carriers is of the order of magnitude of the
total thickness of the value.
Play video starting at 1 minute 42 seconds and follow transcript1:42
We see that this is a case of solar cells based on crystalline silicon. The ideal operation involve
several assumptions. The first is perfect absorption of all photons that have an energy greater
than the bond gap which implies the absence of reflection of the front surface of the
semiconductor. For example, the second assumption is a perfect collection of a
photogenerated carriers. That is to say, lack of recombination in the p-n junction and then
perfect contact with the metallic electron. The solar photon conversion mechanism is
summarized in this field. We have seen that from the electrical point of view a cell behaved like
a p-n junction out of equilibrium. In parallel with the current source that corresponds to the
photogenerated carriers.
The characteristic of a non-equilibrium diode follows the Shockley's law,
I = IS exponential- eV on kT- 1,

which is on parallel with source IL.
The final characteristic IV is presented here. We also define two quantities, VOC which is open
circuit voltage.
Which correspond to I = 0.
One the short-circuit current ISC corresponds to V = 0.
The solar cell acts as a generator in the third quadrant.
P = VI negative which is only illustrated here reversed.
The current per unit area JS depends on the characteristic of the semiconductor. That is to say
bond gap, diffusion constant of the carriers, lifetime of electrons on holes, to n on top, dumping
densities and so on. The VOC is obtained from the expression of the characteristic at I = 0. We
obtain an important cosecant from the solar cell operation.
VOC depends logarithmically on the photon flux IL. Thus for example, VOC increases with the
optical concentration. The maximum of the power,
P equal VI corresponds to dP over dV = 0.
It can therefore be calculated analytically as shown here. So short circuit current Isc
corresponds to the photon conversion. It is obtained from the interior of the spectrum of solar
photons integrated between Eg and infinity. These quantities are reported in this figure, which
again, display the first quadrant of the curve IV.
We define the field factor FF, the ratio JmVm.
That is to say, maximum power divided by the area of the rectangle Isc, Voc.
The most characteristic will be close to the rectangle, the greater the field factor will be. In
practical application FF can reach 80% or even above. This figure shows a theoretical
comparison of various semiconductors. The two top curves correspond roughly to the
crystalline germanium and silicon. The more the bond gap decreases the more solar photons
are absorbed, leading to an increase of ISC.
We observe an opposite behavior for the Xs. Voc depends on the bond gap still being slightly
lower as we have seen previously. We can evaluate the theoretical maximum conversion
efficiency for the various semiconductor.
Remember that the solar photons that have lower energy than the bond gap are not converted.
More the gap is low, more this loss is weak. In contrast losses by thermalization vary in the
opposite way. These opposing behaviors with EG lead to a compromise shown in this figure.
Bond gap of 1.34 slightly higher that crystalline silicon corresponding to the better compromise
between convection and degradation. This corresponds to efficiency of 33% and the ideal
operating conditions is called the Shockley–Queisser limit. It applies to the homojunction, that
is to say a p-n junction, based on single semiconductor material. This limit is well below the
thermodynamic limit, more than 80%. The red dots correspond to the best yields actually
achieved.
Play video starting at 7 minutes 2 seconds and follow transcript7:02
These values are found to be far below the theoretical limits, particularly for the amorphous
silicon thin field. The actual recourse are in the order of 25, 26% for crystalline silicon instead
of 29% theoretically. The share of the different solar cell technology is shown in this figure. The
crystalline silicone base industries account for over 90% of the global market. We'll come back
to this technology in the next chapter. The thin layer of technology CDT, amorphous silicon and
so on, represent the highest of the market, barely 10%. We have presented in this second, the
ideal operation of solar cells, based on homojunction, that is to say, considering a single
semoconductor matter. We will see later how it's possible to overcome The Shockley-Queisser
limit 33% efficiency, thank you.

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We will now treat the operating principle of a solar cell.

First is the ideal case, that is to say

Play video starting at 19 seconds and follow transcript0:19

Play video starting at 42 seconds and follow transcript0:42

We thus excite an electron in the conduction bond.

Play video starting at 1 minute 32 seconds and follow transcript1:32

Play video starting at 1 minute 42 seconds and follow transcript1:42

The characteristic of a non-equilibrium diode follows the Shockley's law,

I = IS exponential- eV on kT- 1,

P equal VI corresponds to dP over dV = 0.

We define the field factor FF, the ratio JmVm.

Play video starting at 7 minutes 2 seconds and follow transcript7:02

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