Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System

• Solar photovoltaic system converts solar energy

directly into electrical energy.
• The basic conversion device used is a solar
photovoltaic cell or solar cell.
• A solar cell can produce a potential difference of
approximately 0.55V and a current density of
2A/100cm2 of cell area in full solar radiation of
1kW/m2.
• It has a life span more than 20 years.
• Its applications include space satellites, remote
communication stations, lighting, water pumping,
solar powered vehicles.
 PV Systems- Advantages
• Convert solar energy directly to electricity
without any moving parts.
• Reliable, modular, durable and generally
maintenance free.
• Quiet, work in almost all environments, have
instantaneous response to solar radiation and
long life span.
• Can be installed at the place of use. So cost of
distribution of energy is less.
 PV Systems- Disadvantages
• Cost of solar cell is high.
• The efficiency of solar cell is low (10-20%).
Large area of solar cell is required to generate
sufficient amount of power.
• As solar energy is intermittent, some kind of
storage is required which makes the system
more expensive.
Solar PV Cell
Solar Cell- Construction
Silicon wafer doped with P and N type impurities to form a PN junction
Formation of depletion zone when excess electrons in N region near the junction
move to the electron deficient P regions near the junction.
Free electrons are generated in N region by photons, and the electrons are not able to
cross the junction but can flow through the external circuit to reach the P region.
 Solar Cell- Construction
• The solar Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made
from highly purified silicon ( Si ) wafers doped
with P type impurities (usually boron) and N
type impurities usually phosphorous) to form
PN junction.
• The silicon wafer of the photovoltaic solar cell
facing the sun (N layer which is very thin –
about 0.2μm), consist of the electrical
contacts (Negative terminal) and is coated
with an anti-reflective coating that helps
absorb the sunlight efficiently. It is covered
with glass on the top.
 Solar Cell- Construction
• When light falls on the cell, electrons starts to
flow over the surface of the cell. Metallic strips
are placed across the surface of the photovoltaic
cell to collect these electrons.
• The back of the PV cell, the side away from the
incoming sunlight, has the thick P layer (thickness
about 100-350μm) under which is a layer of
aluminium or molybdenum metal which forms
the other electrical contact (positive terminal) .
 Solar Cell Characteristics
I- V characteristics
• With conventional notations and directions, the
current equation for the pn junction when not
illuminated is

Where Io is the reverse saturation current and

kT
VT 
q
where k is the Boltzman’s constant =
1.38064852 × 10−23, T temperature in o K and q is the
charge of electron= 1.602 x 10-19 C
 Solar Cell Characteristics
• When the junction is illuminated, photo
generated current flows in the opposite
direction and the current equation gets
modified as
I   I SC  I o {e (V / VT )
 1}
where ISC is the photo generated current or
short circuit current whose magnitude
depends on the solar insolation.
 Solar Cell Characteristics

Dark and illuminated characteristics of solar cell with

conventional direction of current of a normal PN junction
Solar Cell Characteristics
Conventional direction of current
 Solar Cell Characteristics

Dark and illuminated characteristics of solar cell with

conventional direction of current of a solar cell
 Solar Cell Characteristics
• For a solar cell the conventional current
direction is opposite to that of a normal pn
junction and thus the I-V characteristics of a
solar cell when junction is illuminated is
expressed as
I  I SC  I o {e (V / VT )
 1}

Or I  I SC  I D
 Solar Cell Characteristics
• The voltage across the solar cell when the
current is zero is the open circuit voltage of
the cell which can be obtained from the
current equation as
VOC  VT ln{( I SC / I o )  1}

• Typical value of ISC=2A, Io =1nA and Voc =0.55V

Solar Cell Characteristics
 Solar Cell Characteristics
P-V Characteristics
• Power curve can be plotted for the variation in
the cell output voltage (P-V Characteristics)
using the relation P= VI and cell I-V
characteristics.
• The voltage Vmp and current Imp corresponding
to the maximum power that can be extracted
from the cell can be found from the P-V and I-
V characteristics.
 Fill factor of a solar cell
• Closeness of the I-V characteristics of a solar
cell to the rectangular shape is a measure of
the quality of the cell. An ideal cell would have
a rectangular I-V characteristics.
• Fill factor is the ratio of area of the largest
rectangle that can be inscribed in the I-V chara
of a cell to the area of smallest rectangle that
can be super scribed over the I-V chara
• Or Fill factor is the ratio of maximum power to
the product of Voc and I sc of the cell
Fill factor of a solar cell
 Fill factor of a solar cell
Vmp I mp
• Fill factor, FF 
Voc I sc
• Fill factor of an ideal cell is 1 where as a typical
value of fill factor commercial PV cell range
from 0.5 to 0.83
• The conversion efficiency of a solar cell is
given by
Vmp I mp FF (Voc I sc )
 
Solar _ power Solar _ power
 Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
• The current equation is
for ideal case.
• In practical, the cell has internal resistance
both series (Rs)and shunt (Rsh).
• Series resistance is due to the contact
resistance of metal and semiconductor and
due to the flow of current through the cell. It
reduces the value of output voltage.
• Typical value of Rs is 0.05 to 0.1 Ω
 Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
• The shunt resistance Rsh of the cell is due to
the manufacturing defects which creates
leakage paths causing leakage currents on the
cell body. It reduces the value of Isc.
• Typical value of Rsh is 200 to 300 Ω
• Thus the I-V characteristics/current equation
of a practical solar cell is
I  I L  I o {e (V  IRS ) / VT  1}  (V  IRS ) / RSH

I  I L  I D  I SH
Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
Effect of insolation and temperature on cell
characteristics
• Both Isc and Voc increases with increase solar
irradiance or insolation
• The photo generated current depends directly
on insolation. Therefore short circuit current
linearly increases with insolation.
• The open circuit voltage is a logarithmic
function of the photo generated current. So
open circuit voltage logarithmically increases
with insolation.
 Effect of insolation and temperature
on cell characteristics
• Increase in temperature causes reduction in
band gap and hence a marginal increase in
photo current.
• Increase in temperature also causes rapid
increase in reverse saturation current and
decrease in cell terminal voltage (approx.
2.2mV/o C).
• The fill factor decreases slightly with
temperature.
Effect of insolation and temperature on cell
characteristics
 Solar Cell- Classification
A. On the basis of thickness of active material
1. Bulk material cell : In this type the base
material itself is an active material
2. Thin film cell: A thin film of active material is
deposited on a substrate. Less amount of
active material is required, but construction
above an area of 25cm2 is difficult . Small area
cells have the disadvantage of cell mismatch.
 Solar Cell- Classification
B. On the basis of junction structure
1. PN homojunction cell: The semiconductor
material on both side of the junction is same.
Only doping materials are different. The band gap
remains the same through out the cell.
2. PN heterojunction cell: The semiconductor
materials on both side of the junction are
different. The band gap of the top material
exposed to sunlight is wider than the band gap of
the material below the junction. Eg. GaAs-
GaAlAs, CdS-Cu2S.
3. PN multijunction cell: A photon is most efficiently
absorbed when its energy is close to the band gap
energy. More number of junctions with different
band gaps are stacked to absorb more photons.
The top layer has relatively wider band gap
following one or two junctions in decreasing
order of band gaps.
4. Metal semiconductor junction cell: Metal
semiconductor junction known as Shottky
junction is simple to fabricate but not very
efficient and has low open circuit voltage.
5. P-I-N semiconductor junction cell: An intrinsic
silicon layer is interposed between p and n layers
in amorphous solar cells.
 Solar Cell- Classification
C. On the basis of type of active material
1. Single crystal silicon cell: Single crystal or
Mono crystalline silicon (mono c-Si) is a form
in which the crystal structure is homogeneous
throughout the material; the orientation,
lattice parameter, and electronic properties
are constant throughout the material. It is
most efficient (15- 20%) and robust form. But
most energy intensive in production and
hence production cost is high.
 Solar Cell- Classification
2. Multi (poly) crystalline silicon cell : Multi crystalline
silicon is composed of many smaller silicon grains of
varied crystallographic orientation, typically >1 mm in
size. It is less energy intensive in production and less
costly but less efficient (10 -14%).
3. Amorphous silicon cell: Amorphous silicon is non
crystalline silicon and has no long-range periodic order.
The application of amorphous silicon to photovoltaic as
a standalone material is somewhat limited by its
inferior electronic properties. Other substances used
are Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Copper indium gallium
selenide (CGIS) and Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). It is
cheaper but has low efficiency (4-8%) and degrade in
outdoor applications. It is used in calculators and
watches.
Solar Cell- Classification
 Solar Cell- Classification
4. Gallium arsenide cell: has band gap of 1.43eV,
open circuit voltage of 0.8-0.9V and high
efficiency in excess of 20%. Suitable for space
applications
5. Copper indium diselenide cell : fabricated using
thin film technology. Has band gap of 1eV. It is
cheaper and have efficiency of about of 10%.
6. Organic PV cell: fabricated using carbon based
polymers. They are flexible and can bend without
breaking. They are light and cheap. Can be folded
or cut to required size. But efficiency is about
3.5%
Solar PV module
 Solar PV module
• A bare solar cell can not be used for outdoor
energy generation as the output of a single cell is
very low and it require protection against out
door harsh conditions like dust moisture etc
• Workable voltage, current and reasonable power
may be obtained by interconnecting appropriate
number of solar cells in series or parallel as per
requirement.
• The unit is fixed on a durable back cover with a
transparent cover on the top and hermatically
sealed to make it suitable for out door
applications
 Solar PV module
• The whole assembly is known as the solar
module
• Most of the commercial modules have 32 or
36 cells connected in series to make it suitable
for charging 12V storage battery.
• If all the cells are exactly identical, the
efficiency will be maximum. Mismatches
between cells causes losses and lower
efficiency of the module.
Solar PV Panel
 Solar PV Panel
• Several solar modules are connected in series
or parallel to increase the voltage or current
rating and fixed in a frame to form a PV panel
that can be mounted on a structure for power
generation.
• When the modules are connected in series, it
is desirable to have each module’s maximum
power production occur at the same current.
 Solar PV Panel
• When the modules are connected in parallel,
it is desirable to have each module’s maximum
power production occur at the same voltage.
• In parallel connection, blocking diodes are
used in series with each series string, so that
the power from other strings are not absorbed
by a failed string in case of a string fails.
• Bypass diodes are connected across each
module to bypass a failed module in the string
if a module in a string fails.
Solar PV Panel
Solar Array
 Solar array
• A large number of solar panels may be
interconnected and installed over a large area
which forms a solar array.
• The panels in an array may be installed stationary
or with sun tracking mechanism.
• The layout and mechanical design of the array
such as tilt angle of panels, height of the panels,
clearance among the panels etc are carried out
taking into account of the local climatic
conditions , ease of maintenance etc.
 Maximum power point tracking
• To make best use of the solar PV system, the
output is maximised in two ways.
1. Mechanically tracking the sun and always
orienting the panel in such a direction as to
receive maximum solar radiation under
changing position of the sun.
2. Electrically tracking the maximum power
point by manipulating the load, under
changing conditions of insolation and
temperature.
Maximum power point tracking
 Maximum power point tracking
• Maximum power is delivered to the load only if
the load resistance seen by the panel is equal to
the ratio Vmp/Imp corresponding to the
maximum power point (MPP) of the I-V
characteristics of the solar panel at the particular
insolation and temperature at which the panel is
operating.
• But for practical applications, I-V characteristics
of a panel and the MPP keep on changing with
change in insolation and temperature.
 Maximum power point tracking
• In order to receive maximum power, the load
resistance seen by the panel must be varied with
the variation in MPP.
• This resistance manipulation is carried out using
DC-DC converters in between the panel and the
load.
• Changing the duty ratio of the DC-DC converter
results in load resistance change as seen by the
panel
• Duty ratio can be adjusted to change the load
resistance to extract the maximum power from
panel.
Maximum power point tracking
 Solar PV systems
1. Stand alone solar PV system
 Stand alone solar PV system
• The MPPT senses the voltage and current
output of the solar array and adjusts the
operating point to extract maximum power
under the given climatic conditions.
• The output of the array after converting to ac
is fed to the loads.
• The array output in excess of load requirement
is stored in a battery
• When the sun is not available, the battery
supplies the load through the inverter.
 Stand alone solar PV system

• Diode DB prevents battery from over charging

• Diode DA prevents battery discharge through
the solar array.
• Mode controller controls the battery charging
discharging, matches generated power and
load and controls the on off operations of
dump heater.
 Solar PV systems
2. Grid connected solar PV system
 Grid interactive solar PV system
• In grid interactive system, all excess power is
fed to a grid and dump heaters are not
required.
• In the absence of sun or inadequate sunshine,
the supply of power is maintained from the
grid.
• The dc power is first converted to ac of grid
frequency using an inverter, harmonics are
filtered and then the power is fed into the grid
after adjusting the voltage level .