MSE 104

Homework #5
Assigned: 11/19/2014
Due: 12/01/2014 (in class)
Problems: 18.11, 18.18, 18.19, 18.28, 18.30, 18.39, 18.51, 18.55, 18.58 and CES
Problem attached
18.11 At room temperature the electrical conductivity and the electron mobility for aluminum are 3.8 107 (.m)1
and 0.0012 m2/V.s, respectively.
(a) Compute the number of free electrons per cubic meter for aluminum at room temperature.
(b) What is the number of free electrons per aluminum atom? Assume a density of 2.7 g/cm3.
18.18 (a) Using the data presented in Figure 18.16, determine the number of free electrons per atom for intrinsic
germanium and silicon at room temperature (298 K). The densities for Ge and Si are 5.32 and 2.33 g/cm3, respectively.
(b) Now explain the difference in these free-electron-per-atom values.

18.19 For intrinsic semiconductors, the intrinsic carrier concentration ni depends on temperature as follows:

Eg
ni exp

2kT

(18.35a)

or, taking natural logarithms,

ln ni

Eg

(18.35b)

2kT

Thus, a plot of ln ni versus 1/T (K)1 should be linear and yield a slope of Eg/2k. Using this information and the data
presented in Figure 18.16, determine the band gap energies for silicon and germanium and compare these values with
those given in Table 18.3.

18.28 Predict whether each of the following elements will act as a donor or an acceptor when added to the indicated
semiconducting material. Assume that the impurity elements are substitutional.
Impurity

Semiconductor

Si

Ge

InSb

In

CdS

As

ZnTe

18.30 Germanium to which 1024 m3 As atoms have been added is an extrinsic semiconductor at room temperature,
and virtually all the As atoms may be thought of as being ionized (i.e., one charge carrier exists for each As atom).
(a) Is this material n-type or p-type?
(b) Calculate the electrical conductivity of this material, assuming electron and hole mobilities of 0.1 and
0.05 m2/V-s, respectively.

18.39 Estimate the electrical conductivity at 75C of silicon that has been doped with 1022 m3 of phosphorus atoms.

18.51 Consider a parallel-plate capacitor having an area of 3225 mm2 (5 in.2), a plate separation of 1 mm (0.04 in.),
and a material having a dielectric constant of 3.5 positioned between the plates.
(a) What is the capacitance of this capacitor?
(b) Compute the electric field that must be applied for 2 108 C to be stored on each plate.

18.55 A charge of 2.0 1010 C is to be stored on each plate of a parallel-plate capacitor having an area of 650
mm2 (1.0 in.2) and a plate separation of 4.0 mm (0.16 in.).
(a) What voltage is required if a material having a dielectric constant of 3.5 is positioned within the plates?
(b) What voltage would be required if a vacuum were used?
(c) What are the capacitances for parts (a) and (b)?
(d) Compute the dielectric displacement for part (a).
(e) Compute the polarization for part (a).

18.58 The dielectric constant for a sodalime glass measured at very high frequencies (on the order of 1015 Hz) is
approximately 2.3. What fraction of the dielectric constant at relatively low frequencies (1 MHz) is attributed to ionic
polarization? Neglect any orientation polarization contributions.

SILICON SOLAR PANELS

BACKGROUND: Silicon (Si) Used in Photovoltaics (from the U.S. Department of Energy,
http://www.eere.energy.gov/basics/renewable_energy/types_silicon.html)
Siliconused to make some the earliest photovoltaic (PV) devicesis still the most
popular material for solar cells. Silicon is also the second-most abundant element in the Earth's
crust (after oxygen). However, to be useful as a semiconductor material in solar cells, silicon
must be refined to a purity of 99.9999%.
In single-crystal silicon, the molecular structurewhich is the arrangement of atoms in
the materialis uniform because the entire structure is grown from the same crystal. This
uniformity is ideal for transferring electrons efficiently through the material. To make an effective
PV cell, however, silicon has to be "doped" with other elements to make n-type and p-type
layers.
Multicrystalline (or semicrystalline) silicon, in contrast, consists of several smaller
crystals or grains, which introduce boundaries. These boundaries impede the flow of electrons
and encourage them to recombine with holes to reduce the power output of the solar cell.
However, semicrystalline silicon is much less expensive to produce than single-crystalline
silicon. So researchers are working on ways to minimize the effects of grain boundaries.
Single-Crystal Silicon
To create silicon in a single-crystal state, high-purity silicon must first be melted. It is
then reformed or solidified slowly while in contact with a single crystal "seed." The silicon adapts
to the pattern of the single-crystal seed as it cools and gradually solidifies. Not surprisingly,
because it starts from a seed, this process is called "growing" a new rod (often called a boule) of
single-crystal silicon out of molten silicon.
Once the single-crystal rods are produced (by either the Czochralski or float-zone
method), they must be sliced or sawn to form thin wafers. Such sawing, however, wastes as
much as 20% of the silicon as sawdust, known as kerf. The wafers are then doped to produce
the necessary electric field, treated with a coating to reduce reflection, and fitted with electrical
contacts to form functioning PV cells.
Multicrystalline (i.e. semicrystalline) Silicon
Multicrystalline silicon devices are generally less efficient than those of single-crystal
silicon, but they can be less expensive. Multicrystalline silicon can be produced a variety of
ways. The most popular commercial methods involve a process in which molten silicon is
directly cast into a mold and allowed to solidify into an ingot. The starting material can be a
refined lower-grade silicon rather that the higher-grade semiconductor grade required for singlecrystal material. The cooling rate is one factor that determines the final size of crystals in the
ingot and the distribution of impurities. The mold is usually square, which produces an ingot that
can be cut and sliced into square cells that fit more compactly into a PV module. (Round cells
have spaces between them in modules, but square cells fit together better with a minimum of
wasted space).
Amorphous Silicon
Amorphous solids, such as common glass, are materials whose 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. But they have some economic advantages over
other materials that make them appealing for use in PV systems. In 1974, researchers began to
realize that they could use amorphous silicon in PV devices by properly controlling the
conditions under which it is deposited and carefully modifying its composition. Today,

amorphous silicon is common in solar-powered consumer devices that have low power
requirements, such as wristwatches and calculators.
Amorphous silicon absorbs solar radiation 40 times more efficiently than single-crystal
silicon, so a film only about 1 micrometeror one one-millionth of a meterthick can absorb
90% of the usable light energy shining on it. This is one of the chief reasons that amorphous
silicon could reduce the cost of PV. It can also be produced at lower temperatures and
deposited on low-cost substrates such as plastic, glass, and metal. This makes amorphous
silicon ideal for building-integrated PV products such as solar shingles. And these
characteristics make amorphous silicon the leading thin-film PV material.
Amorphous silicon does not have the structural uniformity of single- or multicrystalline
silicon. Small deviations in this material result in defects such as "dangling bonds," in which
atoms lack a neighbor with which they can bond. These defects provide places for electrons to
recombine with holes rather than contributing to the electrical circuit. Ordinarily, this kind of
material would be unacceptable for electronic devices because defects limit the flow of current.
But amorphous silicon can be deposited so that it contains a small amount of hydrogen in a
process called hydrogenation. The result is that the hydrogen atoms combine chemically with
many of the dangling bonds, essentially removing them and permitting electrons to move
through the material.

Staebler-Wronski Effect
Instability is the greatest stumbling block for amorphous silicon. These cells experience
the Staebler-Wronski effect, in which their electrical output decreases over time when first
exposed to sunlight. Eventually, however, the electrical output stabilizes. This effect can result
in up to a 20% loss in output before the material stabilizes. Exactly why this effect occurs is not
fully understood, but part of the reason is likely related to the amorphous hydrogenated nature
of the material. One way to mitigatethough not eliminatethis effect is to make amorphous
silicon cells that have a multijunction structure.
Cell Design

A typical amorphous silicon cell employs a p-i-n design, in which an intrinsic layer (ilayer) is sandwiched between a p-layer and an n-layer.

Because of amorphous silicon's unique properties, its solar cells are designed to have
an ultrathin (0.008 micrometer) p-type top layer, a thicker (0.5 to 1 micrometer) intrinsic middle
layer, and a very thin (0.02 micrometer) n-type bottom layer. This design is called a p-i-n
structure, named for the types of the three layers. The top layer is made so thin and relatively
transparent that most light passes right through it to generate free electrons in the intrinsic layer.
The p- and n-layers produced by doping the amorphous silicon create an electric field across
the entire intrinsic region, thus inducing electron movement in the i-layer.
One of the most important considerations in using solar panels is cost. A report on
worldwide prices published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews estimates the average
costs of recently installed systems (2009) ranging from $5-$10.50 per watt across the U.S. As a
comparison, the cost is $7.70 per watt installed capacity in Germany and $4.70 per watt in
Japan. The figures are for residential (2-5kW) systems, and without any government subsidies.
In an article by Greg Whitburn (http://exploringgreentechnology.com/solar-energy/cost-of-solarpanels/) an installed residential 2KW capacity solar panel system is estimated to cost between
$9,400 and $21,000 depending on your location. A useful figure to use when looking at solar
is cost per kWh (kilowatt-hour), because this can be directly compared to your current
power/electric bill. A National Renewable Energy Laboratory report spanning 7 U.S states, gives
a levelized cost of solar of between $0.28 and $0.46 per kWh for residential solar systems.
Solar costs per kWh hour are calculated by dividing the total expected cost of a system
(modules, inverters, installation etc) by the expected total energy output, excluding federal tax
credits and other subsidies.
From an environmental viewpoint, we also consider the CO2 emissions, see graph below
(http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/comparativeco2.html).

Assignment:
Look at your most recent electric bill and determine the cost of electricity in terms of $ per KWh
and compare it with estimated cost of solar energy (see above). If you do not receive electric
bills, look on-line for typical costs in your residential area (e.g. what Southern California Edison
charges). Based on all factors cited above, as an engineer, would you recommend installing
solar panels on someones rooftop? Why or why not? A 3-4 sentence answer will be sufficient.