Distribution Generation and

Microgrids
M.Kowsalya
 What is a Solar Cell?
It is also known as Photovoltaic cell (PV cell)
A device that converts light energy (solar energy) directly
to electricity.
The term solar cell is designated to capture energy from
sunlight, whereas PV cell is referred to an unspecified light
source.
It is like a battery because it supplies DC power.
It is not like a battery because the voltage supplied by the
cell changes with changes in the resistance of the load.

Made from a single

crystalline silicon wafer
 History
• The photovoltaic effect was first recognized
in 1839 by French physicist Alexandre-
Edmond Becquerel. However, it was not until
1883 that the first solar cell was built, by
Charles Fritts, who coated the semiconductor
selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold
to form the junctions. The device was only
around 1% efficient.
• Russell Ohl patented the modern solar cell in
1946 (U.S. Patent 2,402,662)
 Applications of Solar Cells
• Renewable energy
• Can be powered for remote locations
• It’s free, limitless, and
environmentally friendly…
 Physics of Solar Cells
• Semiconductor material can be p-type (hole
carriers) or n-type (electron carriers)

P+ B-

n-type p-type
• N-type has impurities with an extra electron (phosphorus)
• P-type has impurities with one fewer electron (boron)
• Put them together: p-n junction
• A solar cell is a very large p-n junction (or diode)
 Basic Physics of Solar Cells

e
P+ B-
h
n-type p-type

• The holes from the p-type side diffuse to the n-type

side.
• The electrons diffuse to the p-type side.
• This leaves behind charged ions (missing electrons
or holes).
 Built-In Electric Field
• The charged atoms (ions) create an electric
field.
• This electric field makes it easy for current to
flow in one direction, but hard to flow in the
opposite direction.
P+ B-
P+ B-
n-type P+ B- p-type

E-field
Generating Charges From The Sun
• Light breaks silicon bonds and creates “free” electrons and holes
“missing electrons”
• Holes are positive charges
• Built-in field separates electrons and holes

P+ B-
eP+ h
B-
n-type P+ B- p-type

E-field
 Generating Charges From The Sun
• Connect diode to a circuit
• Photocurrent goes through resistor
• Causes a voltage drop

P+ B-
e + h
P B-
n-type P+ B- p-type

E-field

V=IR
IPC
Generating Charges From The Sun
• Forward biases the diode
• Causes a current in opposite direction

-V P+ B- +V
h
P+ B-
n-type Pe+ B- p-type
IFB

V=IR IPC
 Generating Charges From The Sun
• If R is very large, V is very large
• If V is very large, IFB = IPC
• I=0
• Open Circuit condition

-V P+ B- +V
h
P+ B-
e
n-type P+ B- p-type
IFB=IPC

V=IR IPC
 Generating Charges From The Sun
• If R is very small, V is very small
• If V = 0, IFB = 0
• I= IPC
• Short Circuit condition

-V P+ B- +V
h
P+ B-
n-type eP+ B- p-type
IFB=0

V=IR=0 IPC
 Construction of Solar cells
• They are constructed by layering special materials
called semiconductors into thin, flat sandwiches.
• These are linked by electrical wires and arranged on
a panel of a stiff, non-conducting material such as
glass. The panel itself is called a module.
• Modules are then interconnected, in series or
parallel, or both, to create an array with the desired
peak DC voltage and current.

http://www.specmat.com/Overview%20of%20Solar%20Cells.htm
a. Encapsulate
b. Contact Grid
c. Antireflective Coating
d. N-type Silicon
e. P-type Silicon
f. Back Contact
 How Solar cells work
• Function 1: Photogeneration of charge
carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-
absorbing material
• Function 2: Separation of the charge
carriers to a conductive medium such as a
metal contact or a wire in order to transmit
the electricity
 It supplies a voltage and a current to a resistive load
(light, battery, motor).
 Power = Current x Voltage

1. A solar cell is a sandwich
of n-type silicon (blue)
and p-type silicon (red).
2. When sunlight shines on
the cell, photons (light
particles) bombard the
upper surface.
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/solarcells.html
3. The photons (yellow
dot) carry their energy
down through the cell.
4. The photons give up
their energy to electrons
(green dot) in the lower,
p-type layer.
5. The electrons use this
energy to jump across
the barrier into the
upper, n-type layer and
escape out into the
circuit.
6. Flowing around the
circuit, the electrons
make the lamp light up.
 Solar Cell Properties
 Open circuit voltage (VOC)
 Short circuit current (ISC)
 Maximum power
 Efficiency
Factors affecting Solar Cell Performance
Light intensity (type of light)
Light wavelength (color of light)
Angle of incident light
Surface condition of solar cells (cleanness)
Temperature on solar cells
Peak Power Point (Maximum Power)
• A solar cell may operate over a wide range of
voltages (V) and currents (I). By increasing the
resistive load on an irradiated cell continuously from
zero (a short circuit) to a very high value (an open
circuit) one can determine the maximum-power
point, the point that maximizes V×I, that is, the load
for which the cell can deliver maximum electrical
power at that level of irradiation.
• Dynamically adjust the load so the maximum power
is always transferred, regardless of the variation in
lighting.
 Efficiency
• A solar cell's energy conversion efficiency (η,
"eta"), is the percentage of power converted
(from absorbed light to electrical energy) and
collected, when a solar cell is connected to an
electrical circuit. This term is calculated using
the ratio of Pm, divided by the input light
irradiance under "standard" test conditions
(E, in W/m²) and the surface area of the solar
cell (Ac in m²).
Pm
 
E x Ac
 I-V Curv e "scie nce shop" single ce ll, A= 10cm^2, V
=0.5 Voltage at le v e l 10.5 of Haloge n light source
V (m V olt)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
0.00

-0.20

-0.40

-0.60

Pmax = 471.2 W/cm^2

J (mA/cm2)

-0.80
Jmax = 1.366 mA per cm^2

-1.00

-1.20
I max = 16.27 mA

-1.40

-1.60

-1.80
 Solar Cell Process Flow
• Start with n-type silicon wafers
• Cleaning the wafers
Sulfuric: peroxide - removes organics
Buffered Hydrofluoric acid - removes residual oxide
HCl: peroxide - removes heavy metals
• Spin on dopant: a liquid source of boron (p-type
impurity)
• Anneal: 1000oC furnace step drives B into wafer
(forming diode).
 Solar Cell Process Flow
• Metallization: Aluminum deposited on the front and
backside of the wafer.
• Patterning: Resist is spun on the front and back sides of
the wafer and exposed using a mask and UV light. The
exposed resist is removed during developing.
• Metal Etch: The pattern from the mask is transferred to
the metal using a wet metal etch. The remaining
photoresist is then removed.
• Metal Anneal: The wafer is annealed at 400C to improve
the conductivity of the metal.
 MASK LEVEL 1

Semiconductor

Light from aligner

Positive photoresist

Semiconductor
 N- Type Silicon
P-Type Silicon
Metal

Metallization (Al)
P-type

Boron N-type
Diffusion
(P-Type)
 To make your own solar cells
• MatE 153 – Electronic Materials Properties
• MatE/EE 129 - Basic IC Processing
• MatE/ChE 166 - Advanced Thin Film Processes
• MatE/EE 167 - Microelectronics Manufacturing
Methods
• Major/Minor in Materials Engineering
• Dr. Emily Allen of Chemical and Materials Engineering
and Dr. David Parent of Electrical Engineering
 The Raw Materials Required for Solar
Panels
• There are several varieties of cells today that can be used to absorb sunlight and
convert those photons into electrical energy. These include:
– CIS (Copper Indium Diselenide) Cells
– CdTe cells (Cadmium Telluride) Cells
– Organic Cells
– Multi-junction Cells

• Although multi-junction cells have the highest efficiency among solar cells
achieved in a laboratory setting (demonstrated by the following graph), Silicon
Cells (monocrystaline, polycrystaline and amorphous) due to their low cost and
decent efficiency are the most feasible for wide production and will thus be the
main interest of our study.
What’s in a Polycrystalline Si Solar
Cell?
-Polycrystalline cells are slightly
less efficient than monocrystalline
solar cells, but are cheaper to
manufacture in wafer form.
-The diagram below from How
Stuff Works illustrates the order of
the raw ingredients needed to
create a generic polycrystalline
silicon cell.
They include:
A. A layer of glass for protection
B. Antireflective coating
C. Contact grid
D. Highly purified N-Type Silicon
E. P-Type Silicon
F. Back Contact.
 Raw Materials Continued
• There is no threat to the global supply of any
of the raw materials used to manufacture
silicon solar cells, even if their production
dramatically accelerated.
• Silicon is an abundant element in the earth’s
crust, and is in no way potentially threatened
with shortage.
• There is some concern about the supply of
materials needed for non-silicon based cells:
The development of CIGS cells “might be slightly
constrained by shortages of gallium and
selenium,” while, mass production of CdTe
cells may be hampered by tellurium availability
(Lynn, 208, 2010).
 Generic Manufacturing of Silicon
Panels:
• Starting point for a polycrystalline cell is in molten
form, “cast in substantial blocks,” and then cut down to
smaller bricks and eventually into a thin wafer (Lynn,
2010).
• “As the molten silicon cools, crystallization occurs
simultaneously,” and these cells are soldered to a diode
that conducts electricity (Lynn, 2010).
• For a helpfully illustrative video on how a generic
silicon cell is produced click on the following link:
• Discovery Channel: Solar Panel Manufacturing
Forms of Solar Energy Gathering
• A single unit is
referred to as a cell
• A collection of cells is
a module
• A collection of
modules is an array
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/solarcells/

Note that while they may all be made up of the same type of cell a
module and an array will have different efficiencies due to the empty
spaces between each cell
 How Solar Cells Work:
The Photoelectric Effect
• The basic principle of photovoltaics – the
branch of solid state physics which has a
focus of turning light into electrical energy
• It is a property of certain materials where
photons of light are absorbed and the
energy causes electrons to be “knocked
loose”
• Those materials are referred to as
semiconductors
 Semiconductors
• Semiconductors can be
http://www.cpushack.com/MakingWafers.html

natural or created
through “doping” where
impurities are added to
give more or less
electrons
• Two kinds of
semiconductors used for a
single solar cells
* A Positive P-type (Electron
Poor) Pure Silicon – while it is the
most commonly used
* A Negative N-type element for solar cells, it is
(Electron Rich) usually doped with other
materials to create the
specific type of
semiconductor needed
 P-N Junction
• The electric potential
barrier between the two
semiconductors of a solar
cell
• Creates a low resistance
path for excited electrons
to flow through
• “Loose” electrons flow
from the rich end to the
poor one creating a
direct current
*This is called the http://express.howstuffworks.com/exp-solar-power1.htm

photovoltaic effect and

explains why the true
name for solar cells are
PV cells
 The Band Gap
http://mousely.com/encyclopedia/Band_gap/ • A property of the
atoms of the
semiconductor
• This is the energy gap
between two “bands”
of energy between
tow electron states in
a solid
• Only photon energy
which matches the
band gap energy of
the material can free
an electron from that
Energy of a photon state.
 Solar Cell Efficiency

• Considers how much

Solar cell efficiency ( ) depends on
energy available and
- The total power light power
compares it to how density (JV) on the cell
much energy is used - The actual potential difference
productively of the system

- The actual current density of

the system

- The “fill factor” constant which

is the ratio between the actual values
and the maximum values
 Efficiency – The Band Gap Problem

• Get image from book

Certain photon energy levels which are created by the sun get absorbed or reflected by
the atmosphere, which prevents solar cells from accessing that particular level for its
electrons. (Note: AM means Air Mass which is equivalent to the thickness of the
atmosphere) (Picture Credit – Lynn 2010)
 The Multijunction Solution
• Multijunction cells are
the most efficient solar
cells when tested
• Overcomes the issue of
a single band gap by
incorporating many
different materials into
a single cell, thus
adding more band gaps
• Multiple band gaps
allow for more of the
available light energy to
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/solarcells be used
 The Best Solar Cell Research Efficiencies as Recorded by the
NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab)
(Picture Credit - http://www.nrel.gov/pv/thin_film/docs/kaz_best_research_cells.ppt)

Spectrolab
Multijunction Concentrators
36 Three-junction (2-terminal, monolithic) Spectrolab
Two-junction (2-terminal, monolithic)
Japan
32 Crystalline Si Cells Energy NREL/
Single crystal Spectrolab
NREL
Multicrystalline
28 Thin Si
NREL

Thin Film Technologies UNSW

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 UNSW
24 CdTe
Spire UNSW
Efficiency (%)

UNSW NREL
UNSW Cu(In,Ga)Se2
Amorphous Si:H (stabilized) Spire Stanford 14x concentration
UNSW
20 Emerging PV
ARCO Georgia Tech Sharp
Georgia Tech NREL
Organic cells Westing- Varian NREL NREL
house
University NREL
16 No. Carolina
State University
So. Florida
NREL
NREL
Euro-CIS AstroPower
ARCO Boeing
Solarex
Kodak Boeing
12 Boeing
AMETEK
United
Solar
Masushita United Solar
Kodak Boeing AstroPower
8 Monosolar
RCA
Photon
University
Boeing Solarex Energy
California
University Berkeley Princeton
4 of Maine
RCA
RCA University
RCA RCA Konstanz NREL
RCA RCA
0
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Year
 Other forms of Efficiency
• Two kinds of paybacks
* Energy Payback – how long does it take for
the solar cell to make the energy it took to
make the panel itself
* Cost Effectiveness – how long does it take
for the solar cell to generate the energy
equivalent to its cost
SolarRadiation Spectrum
 Difference between a solar cell and
Photdetector
• A photodiode works on a narrow range of wave
length and solar cells need to work on broad
spectral Range (Solar Spectrum )
• Solar cells are wide area device to maximize
exposure
• In photo diode the metric is quantum efficiency ,
which defines the noise ratio while the for solar
cells , it is the power conversion efficiency , which
is the power delivered per incident solar energy.
• Wave length ranges from 3m to 0.2 m