A new method to determine the diode ideality factor of real solar cell using Lambert W-function

A new method using Lambert W-function is presented to determine the diode ideality factor of real solar cell.     

Solar cell array parameters using Lambert W-function

Exact closed-form solution based on Lambert W-function are presented to express the transcendental current–voltage characteristic containing parasitic power consuming parameters like series and shunt resistances for solar cell array. Maple software was used to solve the transcendental equation of solar cell array.     

Numerical determination of parasitic resistances of a solar cell using the Lambert W-function

Several methods are currently available to determine the values of series and shunt resistance of a solar cell. A new method is presented here to numerically locate these values using the popular Newton-Raphson technique at maximum power point. Equations based on the Lambert W-function and their partial derivatives are provided so that all calculations may be performed in a Matlab or similar environment. The results of this new method are presented and compared with two published methods and the analytically obtained for a blue and grey type solar cell in earlier work (Charles et al., 1981). Additionally, three modules of various type (single, poly, and amorphous crystalline) were investigated. Values determined agreed with experimentally verified results and were obtained with quadratic convergence in all instances provided initial estimates of the roots were within vicinity of the actual roots.     

Exact analytical solutions of the parameters of real solar cells using Lambert W-function

Exact closed-form solution based on Lambert W-function are presented to express the transcendental current–voltage characteristic containing parasitic power consuming parameters like series and shunt resistances. The W-function expressions are derived using Maple software. Different parameters of solar cell are calculated using W-function method and compared with experimental data of Charles et al. for two solar cells (blue and grey). Percentage accuracy of W-function method is also calculated to prove the significance of the method.     

Temperature-dependent properties of organic-on-inorganic Ag/p-CuPc/n-GaAs/Ag photoelectric cell

A thin organic film of copper phthalocynanine (CuPc) as p-type semiconductor was deposited by vacuum evaporation on n-type GaAs single-crystal semiconductor substrate. Electrical, photoelectrical and frequency response of the cells were investigated at a temperature interval of 23–74 °C. Photoelectric characteristics were measured under semiconductor laser beam injection illumination (), while frequency response was investigated by laser beam modulated with a frequency range of 10 Hz–100 kHz.It was observed that cell parameters such as rectification ratio; threshold voltage; nonlinearity coefficient; junction, shunt and series resistances; diode ideality factor and power conversion efficiency were temperature-dependent. Moreover, experimental data showed that open-circuit voltage decreases with an increase in frequency whereas short-circuit AC current falls with frequency but remains constant as a function of temperature. It was further observed that the short-circuit DC current remained constant with an increase in frequency as well as temperature. Based on the experimental data an equivalent circuit of photoelectric cell was proposed to explain the observed behavior.     

Injection technique for the study of solar cell test structures

Charge carrier injection and recombination processes in semiconductor solar cells is considered and analyzed. A differential approach based on an I–V characteristic approximation is introduced, in order to recognize the mechanisms of injection and recombination and to determine the physical parameters of photovoltaic semiconductor structures. Examples of application of the injection technique for investigation of typical silicon solar cell test structures are demonstrated.     

Stability and photodegradation mechanisms of conjugated polymer/fullerene plastic solar cells

Degradation studies of poly(2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene-vinylene) (MDMO-PPV), fullerenes ((6,6)-phenyl C₆₁- butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and C₆₀), and mixtures, which are the photoactive components in plastic solar cells, are shown. The degradation processes of the individual components and of a 1 : 3 mixture are characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and by current/voltage (I–V) measurements of devices under the influence of light and oxygen. A faster degradation rate was found for the polymer compared with C₆₀. In composites with fullerenes, the stability of MDMO-PPV is enhanced due to the fast electron transfer to C₆₀.     

A new method of determination of series and shunt resistances of silicon solar cells

A new method of measurement of series resistance R_s and shunt resistance R_sh of a silicon solar cell is presented. The method is based on the single exponential model and utilizes the steady state illuminated I–V characteristics in third and fourth quadrants and the V_oc–I_sc characteristics of the cell. It enables determination of values of R_sh and R_s with the intensity of illumination. For determination of R_s it does not require R_sh to be assumed infinite and realistic values of R_sh can be used. The method is very convenient to use and in the present study it has been applied to silicon solar cells having finite values of R_sh. We have found that R_sh is independent of intensity but the R_s decreases with both the intensity of illumination and the junction voltage.     

Thickness dependence of microcrystalline silicon solar cell properties

This paper addresses the performance of pin and nip solar cells with microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) absorber layers of different thickness. Despite the reverse deposition sequence, the behavior of both types of solar cells is found to be similar. Thicker absorber layers yield higher short-circuit currents, which can be fully attributed to an enhanced optical absorption. Open-circuit voltage V_OC and fill factor FF decrease with increasing thickness, showing limitations of the bulk material. As a result of these two contrary effects the efficiency η varies only weakly for absorber layers of 1 to 4 μm thickness, yielding maximum values up to 8.1 %. For a-Si:H/μc-Si:H stacked solar cells an initial efficiency of 12% has been obtained.     

Gettering effects by aluminum upon the dark and illuminated I–V characteristics of N–P–P silicon solar cells

Impurity gettering is an essential process step in silicon solar cell technology. A widely used technique to enhance silicon solar cell performance is the deposition of an aluminum layer on the back surface of the cell, followed by a thermal annealing. The aluminum thermal treatment is typically done at temperatures around 600°C for short times (10–30 min). Seeking a new approach of aluminum annealing at the back of silicon solar cells, a systematic study about the effect the above process has on dark and illuminated I–V cell characteristics is reported in this paper. We report results on silicon solar cells where annealing of aluminum was done at two different temperatures (600°C and 800°C), and compare the results for cells with and without aluminum alloying. We have shown that annealing of the aluminum in forming gas at temperatures around 800°C causes improvement of the electrical cell characteristics. We have also made evident that for temperatures below 250 K, the predominant recombination process for our cells is trap-assisted carrier tunneling for both annealing temperatures, but it is less accentuated for cells with annealing of aluminum at 800°C. For temperatures above 250 K, the recombination proceeds through Shockley–Read–Hall trap levels, for cells annealed at both temperatures. Furthermore, it seems from DLTS measurements that there is gettering of iron impurities introduced during the fabrication processes. The transport of impurities from the bulk to the back surface (alloyed with aluminum) reduces the dark current and increases the effective diffusion length as determined from dark I–V characteristics and from spectral response measurements, respectively. All these effects cause a global efficiency improvement for cells where aluminum is annealed at 800°C as compared to conventional cells where the annealing was made at 600°C.     

Modification of fundamental parameters in the silicon solar cells by current pulses

An experimental study of the effect of degradation of the metal-semiconductor contact by current pulses on the I−V characteristics of silicon solar cells allows us to discuss the two-diode model as a function of series and shunt resistances. It is shown that contact degradation is the unique factor deteriorating the fundamental parameters. The recombination, diffusion and photocurrent terms remain unchanged with adherence loss between metal contact and silicon semiconductor.     

SEM observation, photoconductivity investigation and I–V study of Si structures with patterned morphology for solar irradiance detection

Different types of silicon modified patterned substrates with and without p–n-junction were applied as a way for improving solar cells performance in order to prevent the light losses: (i) pyramid like (textured) surfaces (PrS); (ii) hemispherical plate like surface forms (PIS); (iii) dendritic structures (DS); (iv) porous morphology (LEPSi); (v) combinations of a textured surface with a porous one, etc. To realize them the anisotropical chemical and electrochemical etching in various etched mixtures and regimes, epitaxy and ion implantation were performed. Using scanning electron microscopy, spectral photoresponse measurements and current–voltage data, the morphological design, the variations in the photosensitivity, the wavelength peak position and the recombination parameters induced by the patterned processing and their influence for achieving the successful Si solar irradiance detection have been studied and analysed.     

A new method to determine the optimum load of a real solar cell using the Lambert W-function

An exact explicit solution based on the Lambert W-function is presented to express the optimum load of an illuminated solar cell containing a parasitic series resistance and a shunt resistance. The W-function expressions are derived using Matlab software. The method is validated by comparing the model-predicted results to the experimental data for three real solar cells. The impacts of the series resistance and shunt resistance on the optimum load are also studied and the results show a good consistency with the data reported in the literature.     

Determination of solar cell parameters from its current–voltage and spectral characteristics

An algorithm for the calculation of solar cell parameters (series and parallel resistance, diode coefficient, reverse current density) calculation from its current–voltage characteristics at fixed illumination intensity is proposed. The possibility of determining the p–n junction depth on the basis of spectral dependencies of diode photocurrent at different values of the applied bias voltage is shown.     

Studies on the temperature dependence of I–V and C–V characteristics of electron irradiated silicon photo-detectors

The current transport mechanisms of n⁺–p silicon (Si) photo-detectors in different temperature and bias regions before and after irradiation with a dose of 350 kGy has been investigated and presented in this article. Temperature-dependent dark current–voltage (I–V) studies under forward and reverse bias were carried out for this purpose. In the temperature range studied, the dark current contribution in the low bias range is believed to be due to the generation-recombination of minority carriers in the space-charge region. Electron irradiation does not seem to have altered the dark current conduction mechanism. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) at various temperatures was measured to identify the presence of deep levels in the device.     

An improved solar cell circuit model for organic solar cells

The validity of conventional circuit model for interpreting results obtained using organic solar cells is examined. It is shown that the central assumption in the model that photo-generated current remains constant from short-circuit to open-circuit condition may not hold for organic cells. An improved model based on the photovoltaic response of organic solar cells is proposed and a method of extracting the parameters of the model is presented.     

Constant voltage I–V curve flash tester for solar cells

Flash testers are commonly used for measuring solar cells and modules but in their usual implementation are complex, expensive, and susceptible to transient errors. This work presents a new tester design that is simple, low cost, and reduces transient errors by use of a constant-voltage cell-bias circuit. A novel feature of the system is that it extracts a family of I–V curves over a decade range of light intensity, which provides comprehensive information on cell performance. The new design has been tested and used extensively.     

Highly durable inverted-type organic solar cell using amorphous titanium oxide as electron collection electrode inserted between ITO and organic layer

An indium tin oxide/titanium oxide/[6,6]-phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester:regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxylenethiophene):poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid)/Au type organic solar cell (ITO/TiO_x/PCBM:P3HT/PEDOT:PSS/Au) with 1 cm² active area, which is called “inverted-type solar cell”, was developed using an ITO/amorphous titanium oxide (TiO_x) electrode prepared by a sol-gel technique instead of a low functional electrode such as Al. The power conversion efficiency (η) of 2.47% was obtained by irradiating AM 1.5G-100 mW cm⁻² simulated sunlight. We found that a photoconduction of TiO_x by irradiating UV light containing slightly in the simulated sunlight was required to drive this solar cell. The device durability in an ambient atmosphere was maintained for more than 20 h under continuous light irradiation. Further, when the air-stable device was covered by a glass plate with a water getter sheet which was coated by an epoxy-UV resin as sealing material, the durability was still higher and over 96% of relative efficiency was observed even after continuous light irradiation for 120 h.     

Optical, electrical and photovoltaic characteristics of organic semiconductor based on oxazine/n-Si heterojunction

In this work, the construction and photoelectrical characterization of p-type organic semiconductor oxazine (OXZ) in junction with n-type silicon semiconductor are presented. The Stokes shift between absorption and emission of oxazine was analyzed. The analysis of the spectral behavior of the absorption coefficient (α) of OXZ, in the absorption region revealed a direct transition, and the energy gap was estimated as 1.82 eV. From the current–voltage, I–V, measurements of the Au/OXZ/n-Si/Al heterojunction in the temperature range 300–375 K, characteristic junction parameters and dominant conduction mechanisms were obtained. This heterojunction showed a photovoltaic behavior with a maximum open circuit voltage, V_oc, of 0.42 V, short-circuit current density, J_sc, of 3.25 mA/cm², fill factor, FF, of 0.35 and power conversion efficiency, η, of 3.2% under 15 mW/cm² white light illumination.     

Photovoltaic effect in single-layer organic solar cell devices fabricated with two new imidazolin-5-one molecules

Organic solar cells were fabricated with two new imidazolin-5-one molecules as active layers. The use of imidazolin-5-ones, derivatives of a biomolecule chromophore, for photovoltaic applications is particularly attractive due to its biodegradable nature and tunable properties. Single-layer devices with two analogues of imidazolin-5-ones were prepared and characterized. Devices fabricated with one of the molecules as the active layer showed a maximum J_sc of 0.52 μA cm⁻² and V_oc of 0.68 V at an incident power of 20.32 mW cm⁻², while the other set of devices showed a maximum J_sc of 0.63 μA cm⁻² and V_oc of 0.57 V at the same incident power.