THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS

PRESENTED BY L.KRISHNA TEJA teja.vr9@gmail.com cell:9246493267 R.SOWJANYA sowji.ravulapati@gmail.com cell:8125576426

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGI.,

R.V.R&J.C COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING CHOWDAVARAM,GUNTUR-522019.

THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS

ABSTRACT The many advantages of thin film solar cells, namely flexibility, high radiation resistance, low mass, and low cost production, will go untapped until space environmental effects on them are well understood, which requires on-orbit testing. In response to the need to perform on-orbit testing of thin film solar cells, the Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is preparing two flight experiments. The thin film solar cell flight experiment on the AFRL Roadrunner Mission will consist of two technologies, amorphous silicon (a-Si) and copper indium gallium di-Selenide (CIGS), each producing roughly 60 W of power. The flight is planned for mid-2005 and will be in low earth orbit (LEO). The AFRL deployable structures experiment (DSX) will host a significantly larger thin-film solar cell experiment (4.5 kW) and will fly in medium earth orbit (MEO) in 2009. The main objectives of both flight experiments are to characterize onorbit thin-film solar cell performance, enabling the creation of on-orbit performance models and successful transition to operational use

The term "Thin film solar panels" refers to the fact that these types of solar panels use a much thinner level of photovoltaic material then monocrystalline or multi-crystalline solar panels. Thin film solar cells consist of layers of active materials about 10 nm thick compared with 200- to 300-nm layers for crystallinesilicon cells. The semiconductor junctions are formed in different ways, either as a p-i-n device in amorphous silicon (A-Si), or as a hetero-junction (e.g. with a thin cadmium sulfide layer) for CdTe and CIGS panels. A transparent conducting oxide layer (such as tin oxide) forms the front electrical contact of the cell, and a metal layer forms the rear contact. The primary objective of manufacturers of these solar panels is to reduce the overall price per watt to make solar competitive (on a capital investment cost basis) with fuel based power generating technologies (i.e., nuclear, coal, and gas). The original goal was to break $1.00 per watt - but now that has been breached, the new goal is $0.70 / watt of peak power.

Introduction

Thin film solar cells are the new generation solar cells that contain multiple thin film layers of photo voltaic materials. The thin film solar cells (TFSC) are also known as Thin Film Photo Voltaic cell (TFPV). The thicknesses of thin film layers are very less as (few nano meters) compared to traditional P-N junction solar cells. According to the type of photo voltaic material used, the thin film solar cells are classified into four types. They are 1) Amorphous silicon (a-Si) and other thin-film silicon (TF-Si) 2) Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) 3) Copper indium gallium deselenide (CIS or CIGS)

Amorphous solids, like common glass, are materials in which the atoms are not arranged in any particular order. They do not form crystalline structures at all, and they contain large numbers of structural and bonding defects. Amorphous silicon applies to photovoltaic technology if the deposition conditions are properly controlled and if composition is carefully modified.

Amorphous silicon absorbs solar radiation 40 times more efficiently than single-crystal silicon, so a film only 1 micron thick can absorb 90 percent of the usable solar energy. Today, amorphous silicon is the most common form of thin film photovoltaic and is ideal for lowpowered consumer devices.

Amorphous Silicon (a-Si)

Unlike a crystal, the atoms of amorphous materials are randomly disordered from the crystalline positions. Amorphous silicon is used in photovoltaic devices by controlling its deposition conditions and by carefully modifying its doping. With optical engineering, the thin film, often only 1 micron thick, can absorb a high percentage of the usable solar energy. Amorphous silicon is currently the predominant thin film photovoltaic type. It is most often used for low-power consumer devices (like wristwatches and calculators) and other power applications that are not space constrained. The a-Si manufacturing process is perhaps the simplest of the thin film photovoltaic types.

Cadmium telluride, another thin film technology, has cell efficiencies of over 16% in the laboratory. However, CdTe exhibits certain limitations that keep the technology from full market acceptance, including cadmiums heavy metal characteristics and tendency to degrade electronic contacts outdoors. Also, CdTe deposition and crystal formation requires high processing temperatures. CdTe is only manufactured in a configuration in which sunlight must pass through the substrate to get to the photovoltaic material. Glass is the only material that can withstand the temperature and still be adequately transparent. Due to its fragile nature, the glass must be thick and heavy to endure the stresses found during product life in the field.

Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS)

Copper indium di-selenide (CuInSe2) has an extremely high absorption that allows 99 percent of available light to be absorbed in the first micron of the material. This makes it an optimal, effective photovoltaic material. Adding small amounts of gallium to the CuInSe2 boosts its light-absorbing band gap, which makes it more closely match the solar spectrum, thereby improving the voltage and the efficiency of the photovoltaic cell. CIGS cells have reached conversion efficiencies of more than 19 percent - much higher than other thin film photovoltaics. This high conversion efficiency remains stable over time for reliable performance. CIGS also passes environmental certification and waste-handling requirements.

Structure of thin film solar cells

Working
The basic substance of a photovoltaic cell is semiconductors. The semiconductor doped with phosphorus develops an excess of free electrons (usually called N type material) and a semiconductor doped with boron, gallium or indium develop a vacancy( called holes) and this doped materials known as P type materials. These n type and p type materials combine (join) to form a Photo voltaic cell. During the absence of light, a very small amount of atoms are excited and move across the junction. This causes a small voltage drop across the junction. In the presence of light, more atoms are excited and flow through the junction and cause a large current at the output. This current can be stored in a rechargeable battery and used for several applications based on our requirement.

Structure of Thin Film Solar Cell

The structure of thin film solar cell is shown below. The structure and functioning of thin film solar cells are almost same as that of normal silicon wafer cells. The only difference is in the thin flexible arrangement of the different layers and the basic solar substance used. The thin flexible arrangement of the layers helps to produce very thin form of cells that is much more efficient than the conventional silicon wafer cells.

Thin film can be applied to almost all types of surfaces - such as metal, plastic and even paper (in the laboratory). Theyve even been used as a type of roofing material. Specifically, they can actually be used instead of steel or shingles for roofing, creating an entire roof that generates power from sunlight. Unlike rigid panel types, they dont stand out, blending in better with the roof itself. Layer arrangement of thin film solar cell The old solar panel technology use silicon semiconductor for the production of p-type and n-type layers and has several disadvantages. But in the case of Thin Film Layer technology , the silicon semiconductor materials is replaced by either cadmium telluride(CdTe) or copper indium gallium deselenide (CIGS).

2. Flexibility
While crystal silicon solar panels are rigid and therefore fragile, "thin film" materials can be deposited on flexible substrate materials. However, while it is true that thin film solar cells are flexible, their flexibility is a feature of how they're constructed and how you can install them, but not how they're going to end up being used. Like other solar panels, they typically still get installed flat and in a frame at an optimal angle facing the sun. They can conform a little bit to a curved roof surface, but they're typically installed pretty flat; and by the time they're installed, they become inflexible.

Advantages
Thin film solar panels are the new kids on the block. Learn about the pros and cons of using thin film solar panels for your home, commercial building or even for large utility sized projects (such as First Solar is planning to build):

3. Good Performance in Indirect Light

Thin film solar have gained an important market share in Germany as they are quite cheap and work well on roofs that face North, or East/West instead of South.

1. Versatility

4. Good Performance in High Heat

One benefit of thin film solar panels that other types cant offer is that they dont suffer a decrease in output when temperatures go up which can lower efficiency of silicon based modules by 10% or more in some locations. Some thin film modules may even have a slight increase in their outputs at higher temperature levels. Thats impressive, since areas where sunlight is readily available are also usually hot. Because of this, thin film solar panels often have an actual output thats very close to the one theyre rated for. This can make planning a solar power system much easier using this kind of panel.

* Efficiency Questions. Efficiency of these cells has lagged anywhere from 50%-70% behind that of traditional crystalline cells. This is changing quickly however. In 2005, the National Renewable Energy Lab achieved a world record 19.9% efficiency for a CIGS cell. This means that 19.9% of the total energy that fell on the cell was converted to electricity. This is approaching the world record for a common solar panel of 24.7%. * Space Needed. With the efficiencies currently available, you would need approximately 50% more room with thin film solar to produce the same electricity as a traditional solar setup. * Heat Retention. Because thin film solar is usually applied directly to a surface, they can retain more hear. Traditional panels are generally installed with a standoff, meaning there is space between the panel and the supporting surface, allowing for air to cool the panels. Thin film solar may retain more heat, creating a balance act between this and its benefit of better performance at higher temperatures.

5. Good Performance in Niche Markets

Thin films have long held a niche position in low power (<50W) and consumer electronics applications (e.g., calculators), and may offer particular design options for building integrated applications.

Disadvantages: