Solar cell Definition and 116 Threads

Hi everyone, I am working with a solar cell realized with a metal-semiconductor junction. I need to find an expression for the short circuit current of this solar cell, but in the literature I have only found models for the standard case of a pn junction solar cell. Does anyone know a...

In the following http://electrons.wikidot.com/solar-cells it mentioned that how and when n-side becomes positive?

why do we make composites with graphene oxide not with graphene ? if there is a problem to do composite with graphene ?

have two solar cells which I have connected in Parallel to increase the current provided to the system. I want to calculate the maximum Power point tracking for my solar cells. There was no information provided by the seller except the one below. I have attached the open circuit reading of...

Not sure if this is the right section for this, I apologize in advance. I have a project to do and my goal is to measure the efficiency of a solar cell INDIRECTLY. I am not sure how to do that. The equation for the efficiency of a solar cell is η = P/E*A. Where P is the cells...

As far as I know, when the light is shining on the solar cell (PN junction), current would be stopped if voltage reaches to Voc (open-circuit voltage). Is Voc equal to the difference between fermi level of n-type and p-type parts?

Homework Statement The given quantities are the shunt resistances across each of the 3 diode junctions,assume them to be Rsh1,Rsh2,Rsh3; Tunnel diode resistances as Rt1 and Rt2, Photocurrent for each of the junction be Ip1,Ip2,Ip3 and bandgap of each subcell be Eg1,Eg2,Eg3 are given.Let V & I...

I tried today to calculate the power that the solar cell produced, connecting it to an ammeter(digital) and a voltmeter(digital) in series, my initial idea was to use the P=IV formula. However as i carried out the experiment the ammeter gave a showed 0.00 whilst the voltmeter showed 0.56...

Hello Forum, if we take a silicon solar cell, the open circuit voltage is about 0.5V. the current increases as the solar cell area and illumination increases. But the 0.5 V output voltage does not change as the area and illumination level vary...Why? It must have something to do with...

Homework Statement The current-voltage characteristic of a photovoltaic energy converter (solar cell) shown in the attached figure can be approximated by: i = I_1(e^{v/V_{TH}} - 1) - I_2 where the first term characterizes the diode in the dark and I2 is a term that depends on light...

I would like to understand exactly what happens when a PN doped crystalline silicon cell is shaded.Lets assume we have ten solar cells wired together in a series string.That there is plenty of sunlight on the first nine cells but cell ten is completely shaded.Lets say the forward bias of each...

Hi. I'm doing research relating to solar cells and came about the topic related to effective masses. The wiki article stated how effective mass (solid state materials) influences the efficiency of solar cells, but doing more research I couldn't find any solid examples of an effective mass vs...

So today my brother and I were playing with a mini solar cell that I just got, watching the voltage change with a multimeter, and seeing how even an LED would produce about .5 V in the cell, when he posed a question: If you were to take a solar cell (i.e. photodiode) capable of producing...

I have a very small solar cell that outputs 4 volts (open circuit) and 50 μA (short circuit). I'm trying to charge a 0.33 F capacitor that is rated for 5 volts. I'm looking to understand the charging relationship. 1. What equations govern the charging of this capacitor? I'm already aware of...

Hi, I want to continue my study in physics, but i have to find topics for research proposal, and I need your help. I hope you can give me the news about the newest research in solar cell? the material or new method? thanks for your help...:smile:

I've recently gained an interest in solar cells and it's development. I know the basic working principle of solar cells, but other than that I'm quite clueless about the field. I was wondering, what is the process of increasing solar cell efficiency like? Are there analytical ways of...

I am helping my son do a project. We would like to know how to increase the output voltage. For example we have three 6 volt 50ma cells and would like to make 18 volts

Hey guys, 1. basically I am using the silvaco athena and i got some code to make the solar cell simulation. and my project is basically about designing pn junction in terms of the solar cell. kinda clueless of what are things that i need to modify in the code to make sure that i have a good...

Homework Statement Design a solar cell, designed to absorb solar light. Treat the sun as a blockbody source of T=5800K. To design the cell, you may grow 4 very thin semiconductors of the following bandgaps, in eV: 1.43, 1.14, 1.35, 0.67, 1.75, 2.4, 2.7, 0.42, 3.37 Which of these would you...

dear experts i saw a solar charger the size of an iphone that has high amperage rating of over 1000mA to 2000mA. Based on the solar cell size i estimate it to produce at most 250mA at around 5 volts. I like to know how the high amperageis derived. is it using super capacitors ? if...

Hello Forum, I am trying to perform a solar cell experiment. I went to several websites and they list their small solar cells panels as having an output of 0.5 volts, 100mA. The cell size is 1 3/4" X 1"... Does 0.5 V represent the open circuit voltage, when the cell receives the max...

Didnt einstein show that the work function depends on frequency not intensity? If so, than why does the Wysips cell use a magnifying array? Sorry i don't have a pic, but a diagram of the solar cell may be found using google images.

Homework Statement I'm a sort of a newbie student studying solar cell for 2 months and having my test next week, so I've in need of help here! 1) Identify the majority and minority carriers in p-type silicon with n-type silicon solar cell? 2) Explain the term diffusion and drift current? 3)...

I am trying to find the Absorbed dose for Silicon cells on a geostationary satellite from a period of (1996 to 2005) The Equation I have is: D(rad) = 1.68e-8 *((1/ρ)*dE/dx) * Phi Where: D is absorbed dose and units are (100 ergs/g or 0.01 J/Kg) (1/ρ)*dE/dx = (MeV*cm^2)/g...

My son is a 3rd grader and wanted to do a science fair project on solar cells. So we devised an experiment to see if reflecting light with a mirrow would increase power output. We constructed a circuit using an amp-meter, solar cell, and 10Kohm resistor. He hypothesized that reflecting sun...

I want to maximize solar cell efficiency regardless of the sun's angle and so I've been looking at placing Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) over the top of a high efficiency round solar cell. If I come up with a good design then I would like to try and manufacture some of them to see if I...

I am now waiting to go uni after alvls. I am interested to do research about solar cell. which engineering program should I take? elelctrical, mechanical?? if my uni offer me electronics in optical engineering, should I go if I wan to research in solar cell??

I am trying to have students build a tester with sourceMeter, lamp, etc. for solar cell efficiency measurement. Could someone give me advice on this project? Thank you very much.

My question is basically how can a solar cell operate in forward bias? A normal diode in forward bias (with a battery connected) drives electrons from the N-side towards the pn junction where they are continuously recombining with holes (reducing the depletion zone and allowing for the flow...

Hi I have simulated a dual junction(Multijunction) solar cell of thickness 10 microns and length 20 microns in silvaco atlas device simulator. In order to calculate its efficiency i need exact value of incident solar power i.e Pin for the above said structure. These are the parameters...

so I am testing out different designs on a nitrogen laser, and wanted a quick way to test whether or not one design had a more intense output than the other. without having to buy a sensor, my idea was to direct the beam onto a solar cell, then measure the output current. higher current wud mean...

School experiment: Shine lamp at a solar cell, and measure the voltage using a multimeter. Independent variable is the distance between the light bulb and solar cell, dependent variable is the voltage. What is the relationship between the two? And how exactly do I prove it? What I have...

Fabrication of Single Junction GaAs Solar Cell by MBE Hi All, My project is to produce 1 single piece of GaAs solar cell (about the size of 1cm square) by MBE technique. I have gone through some read up and simulation software software called atlas by silvaco. for time being, I am testing on...

What started as a simple project, has become an out of control line of thought and a possible distraction, but one I think is worth picking up again. Several years ago I looked into the cost of solar for my home and the rebate that the city was offering for an approved installation. The cost of...

Hey guys, Homework Statement Im doing my physics coursework atm and its on the subject of Solar cells and am changing a few variables and observing how the voltage of the solar cell changes. I am also measuring the current and using that to calculate the Power output. the caluclations are...

For a junior design project i heard about a student using MATLAB to help operate a solar cell. Basically the sensors detected the light and shifted the p.v.cell into the lights direction, if you were to move light then cell would get re-adjusted. I guess my question is that I am not sure how...

Hi everyone, I'd like to prepare a presentation about solar cells. I need a few articles about multijunction solar cells from popular magazines. If you can help me, please, post there links for these articles. Thank you, Anna

How to calculate the voltage produre by solar cell ? Need temperature reading or other apparatus ?

Hello! Right now I am trying to figure out how much of an affect dust has on the power production of some solar cells that I have. I was just searching for a possible material to use for dust testing. Anyone have any bright ideas?

I tried connecting my solar cell, 7V/100mA to the ammeter. What I got is 1mA. Why? The voltage part is 6V, so I assume the efficiency should be at least around 6/7*100 %. But why is it only 1mA? I connected the solar cell straight to the ammeter. I need help fast. Thank you.

Hello. As a memorial I am trying to build a light-sensitive unit that will make an LED continuously glow at night. I want to put this in an extremely remote place and be reasonable confident that it will continue to operate indefinitely. The idea is that once it becomes dark, a photodiode will...

As the solar cell gets further away from the light source, does it get more efficient or less efficient? At the moment I am able to work out how much power enters the solar cell. However, it is pretty weird because as I found out from my experiment, the efficiency of the solar cell gets better...

Is there are way to find out power from lux entering a solar cell? I currently have the area of a solar cell 127.2 cm square, and the lux reading 8434 lux I have heard of the equation watts per metre square. However that's not the equation for lux right?

Hi, I've been reading up on multijunction solar cells and found out that since the different layers are connected in series the photo generated current through them must be adjusted so it is the same for each layer to conserve efficiency. Why is that? thanks.

Basically I want to Calculate the internal resistance of a solar cell. I set up a circuit with a voltmeter across the solar cell and an ammeter and variable resistor in series with the solar cell. The variable resistor is the load. Image at...

I'm looking for a cheap solar cell for an experiment that we're doing on different sunblock lotions. Will a clear sunblock lotion (say spf 50) affect the ability for a common solar cell to produce electricity? If the answer to the first question is no, is there a solar cell that does use...

I'm planning on making a simple solar powered cell phone charger for a demonstration speech in my gen-ed speech class because it seemed like it would be fun at least. The best solar panel I could find for cheap has an output of 6v and 50 mA. My cell phone charger has an output of 5.0v and 700...

Hi, I am designing an amorphous silicon solar cell and i wanted some pointers on how I should calculate the width of the intrinsic layer to get maximum absorption of light into my cell. I have designed my cell with the doping concentrations of p and n layer as 10^18 and 10^15 respectively.

Hi guys, I am currently doing a university project on the reliability studies of a a-Si thin-film solar cell with specs of 3V@25mA. However, I am stuck at the first step, which requires me to obtain the I-V characterisation curve to derive the parameters of Isc,Voc and Pmax. My lab has a...

How to obtain the I-V characterisation curve of a-Si solar cell?? Hi guys, I am currently doing a university project on the reliability studies of a a-Si thin-film solar cell with specs of 3V@25mA. However, I am stuck at the first step, which requires me to obtain the I-V characterisation...