Renewable Energy Systems
Unit-5
Dr. Supriyo Kumar Mondal
Assistant Professor
Department of Energy Engineering
Institute of Chemical Technology Marathwada Campus, Jalna
Photovoltaic
What is Photovoltaics?
✓ Photovoltaics (abbreviated PV) is the most direct way to
convert solar radiation into electricity and is based on the
photovoltaic effect, which was first observed by Henri
Becquerel in 1839.
✓ All photovoltaic devices incorporate a p-n junction in a
semiconductor across which the photovoltage is
developed. These devices are also known as solar cells.
✓ When light are absorbed on a semiconductor material,
electron hole pairs are generated, and if their
recombination is prevented they can reach the junction
where they are separated by an electric field.
✓ Photovoltaic (PV) conversion is the direct conversion of
sunlight into electricity with no intervening heat engine.
✓ PV devices are solid state; therefore, they are rugged and ✓ PV devices have been used as the power sources for
simple in design and require very little maintenance. calculators, watches, water pumping, remote
buildings, communications, satellites and space
vehicles, and even megawatt-scale power plants
Photovoltaic
Semiconductors
✓ Materials whose valence bands are full have very high band gaps (>3 eV). Such materials are called insulators.
✓ Materials, that have relatively empty valence bands and may have some electrons in the conduction band are
good conductors.
✓ Materials with valence bands partly filled have intermediate band gaps (≤3 eV) are called semiconductors
Electrical conduction is described in terms of allowed and forbidden energy bands. Band gap for insulators
(a) is the highest, followed by semiconductors (c) and metals (b), respectively.
Photovoltaic
P–N Junction
“Excess” electrons from n-material jump to fill
Representation of n and p-type semiconductors: (a) n “excess” holes on the p side of a p–n junction,
type showing “excess” electrons as dots; (b) p type leaving the n side of the junction positively
showing “excess” positive holes as ◌. charged and the p side negatively charged.
Photovoltaic
PV Effect
Energy contained in a photon Ep is given by
where h is Planck’s constant (6.625 × 10-34 J·s)
and ν is the frequency that is related to the
wavelength λ and the speed of light c as
Schematic of a PV device
Photovoltaic
Solar Photovoltaic Cell basics and materials
✓ Solar PV cell is the basic unit in a PV system.
✓ It consists of a junction between two thin layers of dissimilar semi conducting materials.
✓ One is the positive type semi conductor or P-type and the other is the negative type semi conductor or N-
type.
✓ These semi conductors can be made from Silicon, Germanium, Gallium - Arsenide, Indium-Phosphate,
Cadmium-Sulphide, Cadmium-Telluride etc.
✓ But semi-conductors are usually made from Silicon.
✓ Because, Silicon is one of the most available elements on earth.
✓ It exists in nature predominantly in a combined form (Silicon-Oxide).
✓ For solar PV cell the pure Silicon is needed.
Photovoltaic
PV Basic Principle
✓ The actual creation of usable electrical current in a solar cell takes place at the atomic level.
✓ Two important steps are involved in the PV principle. These are:
1) Creation of pairs of positive and negative charges (called electron hole pairs) in the solar cell by
absorbed solar radiation.
2) Separation of the positive and negative charges by potential gradient within the cell.
✓ For the first step to occur, the cell must be made of a material which can absorb the energy associated with
the photons of sunlight.
✓ The only materials for absorbing the energy of the photons of sunlight are semi-conductors.
✓ In a semi-conductor, the electrons of one of two energy bands-the valence band and the conduction band.
✓ The valence band has electrons at a lower energy level and is fully occupied, while the conduction band
has electrons at a higher energy level and is not fully occupied.
Photovoltaic
✓ The difference between the energy levels of the electrons in the two bands is called the band gap energy Eg.
Photons of sunlight having energy E (= hν, h = Planck’s constant and ν = Frequency of photon) is greater
than the band gap energy Eg.
✓ When (photons) strikes the face of cell, it is absorbed in the cell material.
✓ As a result, electrons within the cell are excited and jump across the band gap from the valence band to the
conduction band leaving behind holes in the valence band.
✓ Thus electron hole pairs are created.
✓ The electron in the conduction band and the holes in the valence band are mobile.
✓ They can be separated and made to flow through an external circuit if a potential gradient exists within the
cell.
✓ This flow of electrons current from the negative (N-type) semi-conductor to positive (P-type) semiconductor
is what we call the PV effect
Photovoltaic
Different solar cell technologies
First-generation PV Technologies: Crystalline Silicon Cells
✓ Silicon solar cells are the most efficient in terms of single cell photovoltaic devices, and silicon is the most
abundant element on earth, only second to oxygen.
✓ It is a semiconductor material suitable for PV applications, with energy band gap of 1.1eV.
✓ Crystalline silicon cells are classified into three main types depending on how the Si wafers are made. The
types are based on the type of silicon used, specifically:
▪ Monocrystalline (Mono c-Si)
▪ Polycrystalline (Poly c-Si)
▪ Amorphous Silicon Cells.
Photovoltaic
✓ The oldest solar cell technology and still the most popular and efficient are solar cells made from thin wafers
of silicon.
✓ These are called monocrystalline solar cells.
✓ Compared to the other types of Solar PV, they have a higher efficiency (up to 26%).
✓ The cost of fabricating single crystalline silicon solar cells is higher due to the purification process of bulk.
✓ Polycrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon are much less pure than the single crystalline silicon, and most
common because they are least expensive.
✓ The reason polycrystalline solar panels are less expensive than monocrystalline solar panels, is because of the
way the silicon is made.
✓ Basically, the molten silicon is poured into a cast instead of being made into a single crystal.
✓ The highest recorded efficiency for polycrystalline silicon cell is 21%.
Photovoltaic
✓ Silicon solar cells typically have two layers: a positive layer (p-
type) and a negative layer (n-type).
✓ The positive layer is usually made by doping silicon with boron to
create extra holes in the silicon lattice.
✓ The negative layer is usually made by doping silicon with
phosphorus to have extra electrons available in the silicon lattice.
✓ Working principal for the silicon solar cells is shown in Figure.
Photovoltaic
Second-generation PV technologies: thin-film solar cells
✓ Second-generation solar cells are also known as thin-film solar cells because when compared to crystalline
silicon based cells they are made from layers only a few micrometers thick.
✓ After more than 20 years of R&D, thin-film solar cells are beginning to be deployed in significant quantities.
✓ Thin-film solar cells could potentially provide lower cost electricity than c-Si wafer-based solar cells.
✓ Thin-film solar cells are comprised of successive thin layers, just 1 to 4 μm thick, of solar cells deposited
onto a large, inexpensive substrate such as glass, polymer, or metal.
✓ Thin films can be packaged into flexible and lightweight structures, which can be easily integrated into
building components (building-integrated PV (BIPV)).
✓ Second generation of solar cells they account around 20 % of the total panels sold in a year.
Photovoltaic
✓ There are basically three primary types of thin film solar cells that have been commercially developed:
▪ Amorphous silicon (a-Si and a-Si/μc-Si)
▪ Cadmium Telluride (Cd-Te)
▪ Copper-Indium-Selenide (CIS) and Copper- Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS).
✓ Most solar cells used in calculators and many small electronic devices are made from amorphous silicon cells.
✓ Instead of growing silicon crystals as is done in making the two previous types of solar cells, silicon is
deposited in a very thin layer on to a backing substrate – such as metal, glass or even plastic.
✓ One advantage of using very thin layers of silicon is that the panels can be made flexible.
✓ The disadvantage of amorphous panels is that they are much less efficient per unit area (up to 12%)
Photovoltaic
✓ There are a few fundamental differences between second-generation solar cells and first generation solar cells.
✓ The most notable difference is the semiconductor material used in the cell has a direct band gap as opposed to
the indirect band gap of silicon, but these cells still rely on a p-n junction design.
✓ Thin film cells have a top layer called the winder layer made of a large band gap material that absorbs the higher
energy photons and a bottom layer called the absorber layer made of a smaller band gap material that absorbs
the lower energy photons, which are not absorbed by the window layer.
✓ This design allows for an inherently better efficiency.
✓ CIGS cells have the highest efficiencies of thin film cells at 21.6%; CdTe cells have an efficiency of 21.4%, and
amorphous silicon has an efficiency of 11.8%.
✓ Although these thin film solar cells have a lower costs and good efficiencies, they have some drawbacks.
✓ Most of the material that these cells are made of are either becoming increasingly rare and more expensive
(indium) or are highly toxic (cadmium).
Photovoltaic
✓ It may take several more years to solve the manufacturing problems and bring the production costs in line with
the other leading producers of solar panels.
✓ Because of these drawbacks, a different generation of solar cells has been inspired.
(a) (b)
Schematic of the (a) basic structure of a CIGS solar cell (b) CIGS solar cell band diagram.
Photovoltaic
Third-generation PV technologies
✓ Due to high costs of first generation solar cells and toxicity and limited availability of materials for second-
generation solar cells, a new generation of solar cells emerged.
✓ Currently there is a lot of solar research going on in what is being referred to in the industry as Third-generation
solar cells.
✓ Third generation solar cells are inherently different from the previous two generations because they do not rely
on the p-n junction design of the others.
✓ This new generation of solar cells are being made from variety of new materials besides silicon, including
nanomaterials, silicon wires, solar inks using conventional printing press technologies, organic dyes, and
conductive plastics.
Photovoltaic
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)
✓ Dye-sensitized solar cells are also frequently called Grätzel cells named after the developer.
✓ DSSCs separate the absorption of photons from the energy generation.
✓ Among various solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) demonstrate specific advantages over other
photovoltaic devices, because of their high efficiency, low cost, simple fabrication procedures,
environmental friendliness, transparency, and good plasticity.
✓ Though DSSCs perform well under laboratory conditions relative to other solar cells, parameters such as
efficiency, lifetime, and cost determine their commercial applications.
✓ The major components of conventional DSSCs include a nanocrystalline semiconductor oxide, a dye
sensitizer, a redox electrolyte, and a counter electrode (CE).
✓ Recently, extensive studies of the individual components of DSSCs have been performed to reduce
production costs and to achieve high cell performance.
✓ The cell performance depends on many factors such as surface morphology, particle size, photo-electrode
thickness of TiO2, and the nature of the dye.
Photovoltaic
✓ An overall solar conversion efficiency of more than 12% has been achieved by employing liquid
electrolytes (I-/I-3 redox couple) in DSSCs.
✓ However, the use of liquid electrolytes causes many problems in DSSCs such as short-term stability due to
organic solvent evaporation and leakage, difficulty in sealing the device, electrode corrosion, and limited
solubility of inorganic salts such as KI, NaI, and LiI.
✓ Organic or polymer solar cells were developed to make a more flexible solar cell.
✓ Organic or polymer cells are classified as such because the active layers of the cell are made of completely
organic materials.
✓ These cells can either have a bilayer structure or a bulk-heterojunction structure, but the mechanism of both
designs is the same.
✓ The active layer of organic solar cells is comprised of donor and acceptor materials for charge separation
and transportation.
Photovoltaic
✓ Figure illustrates the mechanism of an organic solar
cell.
✓ Organic solar cells are composed of organic or
polymer materials (such as organic polymers or
small organic molecules).
✓ They are inexpensive, but not very efficient. They
are emerging as a niche technology, but their future
development is not clear.
✓ Their success in recent years has been due to many
significant improvements that have led to higher
efficiencies.
✓ OPV module efficiencies are now in the range 8%
to 10% for commercial systems.
✓ Organic cell production uses high-speed and low-
temperature roll-to-roll manufacturing processes
and standard printing technologies.
Photovoltaic
Tandem solar cell
✓ The limits imposed on solar cells owing to band gap can be
partially overcome by using multiple layers of solar cells
stacked on top of each other, each layer with a band gap higher
than the layer below it.
✓ For example (Figure), if the top layer is made from a cell of
material A (band gap corresponding to λA), solar radiation with
wavelengths less than λA would be absorbed to give an output
equal to the hatched area A.
✓ The solar radiation with wavelength greater than λA would pass
through A and be converted by the bottom layer cell B (band
gap corresponding to λΒ) to give an output equal to the hatched
area B. Energy conversion from a two-layered stacked cell
✓ The total output and therefore the efficiency of this tandem cell
would be higher than the output and the efficiency of each
single cell individually.
Photovoltaic
✓ The total output and therefore the efficiency of this tandem cell would
be higher than the output and the efficiency of each single cell
individually.
✓ The efficiency would increase with the number of layers.
✓ For this concept to work, each layer must be as thin as possible, which
puts a very difficult if not an insurmountable constraint on crystalline
and polycrystalline cells to be made multijunction.
✓ At present, a triple-junction a-Si solar cell is under development.
✓ This cell consists of layers of cells made from a-Si, C:H (an
amorphous silicon, carbon, and hydrogen alloy) with a band gap of
2.0 eV, a-Si:H (an amorphous silicon and hydrogen alloy) with a
band gap of 1.75 eV, and a-Si, Ge:H (an amorphous silicon, Typical triple-junction a-Si cell structure
germanium, and hydrogen alloy) with a band gap of 2.3 eV.
✓ The efficiency of a multijunction cell can be approximately 50%
higher than a corresponding single cell. Figure shows a conceptual
device structure of a triple-junction a-Si cell
Photovoltaic
Off grid and on-grid connected PV systems
✓ A photovoltaic (PV) system is able to
supply electric energy through the
photovoltaic effect. Solar system
✓ The system structure is very flexible.
✓ PV modules are the main building
blocks; these can be arranged into arrays
to increase electric energy production.
✓ Normally additional equipment is
necessary in order to transform energy Off-grid solar system On-grid solar system
into useful form or store energy for
future use.
✓ The resulting system will therefore be
determined by the energy needs (or
loads) in a particular application.
Photovoltaic
Off grid or stand-alone PV systems
✓ These systems are isolated from the electric
distribution grid.
✓ Figure describes the most common system
configuration.
✓ The system elements necessary to serve AC
appliances in a common household or
commercial application.
✓ An additional generator (e.g bio-diesel or wind)
could be considered to enhance the reliability but
it is not necessary. Stand-alone photovoltaic system
✓ The number of components in the system will
depend on the type of load that is being served.
Photovoltaic
✓ The inverter could be eliminated or replaced by a DC to DC converter if only DC loads are to be fed
by the PV modules.
✓ It is also possible to directly couple a PV array to a DC load when alternative storage methods re used
or when operating schedules are not of importance.
✓ A good example may be water pumping applications were a PV modules is directly couple to a DC
pump, water is stored in a tank through the day whenever energy is available.
Photovoltaic
On-grid PV systems
✓ These systems are directly coupled to the electric distribution network and do not require battery storage.
✓ Figure describes the basic system configuration.
✓ Electric energy is either sold or bought from the local electric utility depending on the local energy load
patterns and the solar resource variation during the day, this operation mode requires an inverter to convert
DC currents to AC currents.
✓ There are many benefits that could be obtained from using grid-tied PV system instead of the traditional
stand-alone schemes.
Grid-tied photovoltaic system
Photovoltaic
Benefits of using On-grid PV systems
✓ The benefits are:
▪ Smaller PV arrays can supply the same load reliably
▪ Less balance of system components are needed.
▪ Comparable emission reduction potential taking advantage of existing infrastructure.
▪ Eliminates the need for energy storage and the costs associated to substituting and recycling batteries for
individual clients.
▪ Storage can be included if desire to enhance reliability for the client.
▪ Takes advantage of the existing electrical infrastructure.
▪ Efficient use of available energy.
▪ Contributes to the required electrical grid generation while the client’s demand is below PV output.
Photovoltaic
Hybrid and other PV systems
✓ Hybrid systems may be possible where battery storage or a generator (or both) can be combined with a grid
connection for additional reliability and scheduling flexibility (at additional cost).
✓ Most of the installed residential, commercial and central scale systems use pre-fabricated flat plate solar
modules, because they are widely available.
✓ Other specialized technologies are available (e.g. concentrating PV systems), but not as commercially
available as the traditional PV module.
Photovoltaic
Design of a PV System
✓ There are three basic steps in the design of a PV system:
▪ Estimation of load and load profile
▪ Estimation of available solar radiation
▪ Design of PV system, including area of PV panels, selection of other components, and electrical
system schematic
Photovoltaic
Estimation of Loads and Load Profiles
✓ Precise estimation of loads and their timings (load profile) are important for PV systems since the system
is sized as the minimum required to satisfy the demand over a day.
✓ The multiple loads on a PV system are intentionally staggered to use the smallest possible system, since
the capital costs of a PV system are the most important as opposed to the energy costs in a conventional
fuel-based system.
Schematic of a PV system
Photovoltaic
Estimation of Available Solar Radiation
✓ For designing a PV system, a decision is made whether the PV panel will be operated as tracking the sun or
will be fixed at a certain tilt and azimuth angle.
✓ For fixed panels, a tilt angle of latitude +15° works best for winter and latitude −15° works best for summer.
✓ To keep the panel fixed year round, an angle equal to the latitude provides the maximum yearly energy
Photovoltaic
PV System Sizing
✓ PV systems are usually sized on the basis of the average values of energy and power needed, available
solar radiation, and component efficiencies.
✓ This is known as the heuristic approach.
✓ A detailed design accounts for the changes in the efficiencies of the components depending on the load
and the solar radiation availability and whether the system is operating in a pv-to-load, pv-to-storage, or
storage- to-load mode.