Solar cell Definition and 109 Threads

comparing a flat solar panel of area 2π r² and a hemisphere of the same area, the hemispherical solar panel would only occupy the area π r² of while the flat panel would occupy an entire 2π r² of land. wouldn't the hemispherical version have the same area of panel exposed to the sun, occupy...

So basically, I‘ve always been told that solar cells work because of the PN-junction that exists between two doped materials. Then I‘d like to ask, how do solar cells work that use cuprous oxide - copper electrodes. The cuprous oxide acts as an semiconductor I guess? But It isn‘t doped, and the...

I understand the basics but one thing sticks out in my mind which I cant make sense of, on the N side there are alot of electrons just sitting there like a gas (presumably with 0 net charge) held back by the internal electric field at the junction, and when light strikes the cell there are many...

In the circuit equivalent of a solar cell, shunt resistor is described as "The irregular polycrystalline lattice grain boundaries that resist to the flow of electrical current in the silicon material." If this explanation is correct, shouldn't it be "lower shunt resistance increases the current...

I have tried looking up online with the photoelectric effect, it just mentioned the energy of the photon must have to equal to band-gap energy. Yet, it didn't mention if 100% can be reached in that case, or if a single bandgap makes any effect...

If I wanted to create a factory, possibly automated, on the moon using materials from the surface to create silicon solar cells how hard would it be? Considering the environment, the cheapest and simplest solar cell, regardless of efficiency, would be what to use because quantity and area of...

hi guys for a solar cell i know that the fill factor is given by the following relation : $$ FF = \frac{Vm*Im}{Voc*Isc}$$ but when solving the following example : the book used the following relation in the problem?! : where this Ln relation came from ?

The doped a-Si: H layers in a HIT solar cell do not contribute to the photocurrent. The light they absorb (according to their absorption curve below) is lost. For a doped a-Si: H layer at the front side of the cell that is 25nm thick, what percentage of light at 400nm will be lost due to...

1. Photons having enough energy to transmit an electron from the conduction band to the valence band must fall on the solar cell. 2. The cell is composed of a flat PN diode with the n-type layer on top. 3. As photons hit the n-layer, electrons and holes get formed. 4. Due to the voltage barrier...

what will be the joules per meter using thermal gain and wattage gain from a solar cell if the cell is in an insulative vacuum not counting the thermal degredation of 25% for wattage loss due to heat gain

Hi all, I am working on perovskite solar cell related studies. J-V curve (current density-voltage curve) is one of the important measurements to determine the performance of the device. In practice, we perform the reverse scan first then then followed by the forward scan. There is usually a...

In this interview, Prof. Henry Snaith (University of Oxford) discusses the present status and future prospects of perovskite PV. Article: https://scivpro.com/manuscript/10_32386_scivpro_000004/

I'm a high schooler involved in a research in which we aim to grow perovskite crystals in microgravity. I've recently come across this article (https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-develop-a-better-method-for-making-perovskite-solar-cells/) in which they explain how to grow better perovskite...

Hi there, it is commonly accepted that the lifespan of crystalline silicon solar cells is about 20-30years. And they define the lifespan as when the solar cells efficiency drop to about lower than 10%. However, what are the possible reasons for the degradation? I can only find research papers...

Hi everyone, I have been studying the physics of solar cells for a long time. The only thing that I can not completely understand is the physical operation of solar cell based on band diagram. Can anyone briefly explain the movements of carriers from one electrode to the another based on band...

Homework Statement Homework Equations Voc=kt/q x ln(tpXGlXNd/(ni)2) Isc=A x q x Lp x Gl Lp=√(Dp×tp) FF=Pma/(Isc*Voc) The Attempt at a Solution I got Voc=.298 V and Isc=3.04 mA I]However, I am confused as to how to find the fill factor. I know it is the maximum voltage and current the load...

Looking for a practical description. I have a feeling I am grossly misunderstanding something fundamental about electric circuits and apologize if my questions are confusing because of it. I have these two sources: acs hyperphysics My (probably naive) understanding of the process is as...

Is doping only to form an electric field in depletion region? Somehow I'm confused as far as I'm reading right now, the doping-generated carrier never discussed its role in the solar cell (other than leaving the ion and causing an electric field). Is not the number of carriers generated by...

Hi, I'm trying to figure out how the angle of incidence will affect the voltage output of a photodiode. The obvious answer that comes to my mind is that the voltage output should be proportional to the cos(α), where α is the angle of incidence of light. However, I couldn't find any...

Mechanical Engineering Undergrad here: So this didn't seem explicitly like a homework question, but I was wondering how to describe a solar cell in terms of thermodynamics. If I had to model it with the first law of thermodynamics, I would consider it a simple loop of heat/work exchange...

I am a high school senior caught between these two fields. they both seem very exciting and I am not sure which would be better suited for my interests. In high school, my favorite subjects have been Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science. I am interested in working to develop: -more...

Hi , How can I calculate the resistive heating occurring in the internal resistances of a solar cell ? Are ohm's law or the power dissipation relation P=RI2 applicable in this case ? if not the case how can we calculate the resistive heating there? Thank you in advance for your help

Hi everyone, so I'm trying to achieve IV curves based on how this website had done below: http://www.voltaicsystems.com/blog/solar-charger-tutorial-part-2/ But whenever I increase the resistance, the amperage increases rather than decreases! For example, when I use a 500 ohm resistor the...

Hi, I am trying to find out series and shunt resistance of solar cell from I-V curve which starts from Isc and going to Voc. I read some papers and for single illumination mostly said Rs= -(dv/dI)V=Voc and Rsh= -(dv/dI)I=Isc. so I am finidng Rs from slope between points from Vmax to Voc, and...

Hi, Jake here. I've created some graphics about solar cells that covers high level, general info and even delves into some atomic-level subjects. However, I'm no physicist and I'm sure it shows. If any of you could take a quick look at my work and review for errors, that would be awesome. My...

This has been confusing me a lot lately. I built a type of battery derived from a solar cell that outputs a constant voltage of 0.5 Volts. My original plan was to work out a method to boost this voltage to around 1V to power a joule thief and light an LED using a capacitor charged by the cell...

I know illumination, bandgap of the material, temperature, quantum efficiency all have an effect on the current and voltage of a solar cell. But what about the doping, and the generation and concentration of charge carriers? A semiconductor can only generate a finite number of charge carriers...

What is the role of Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics in solar cell operation? Is quantum mechanics the photovolatic effect, and thermodynamics the cell efficiency?

What equipment is needed for illuminated I-V measurements of a solar cell? light source, 2 multimeters light source, 2 multimeters, variable resistor, voltage source light source of variable intensity, 2 multimeters, irradiance meter Light source, 2 multimeters, variable resistor PV analyser...

When irradiance increases what happens to open circuit voltage and short circuit current of a solar cell? Do they both increase linearly? Because temperature affects open circuit voltage, so I'd assume open circuit voltage doesn't increase linearly then...

What happens to current in a solar cell when temperature increases? I found two sources with different information. 1) As solar panel temperature increases, its output current increases exponentially while the voltage output is reduced linearly.' 2) Whereas, this second website says short...

Hi, we set up a cheap laser pointer bouncing off a mirror that was hot-glued onto a balloon stretched over the end of a coffee can. The reflected light hit a cheap 3x5 solar cell that was plugged into a stereo's microphone jack. A person could speak into the can and their voice would be heard...

Thought this was interesting. Wonder if it will be profitable enough to upscale. http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681562/solar-roads-charging-roads-and-the-future-of-transportation

Hi there, I have recently been researching in depth solar cells/panels, the parameters of their efficiency and the photoelectric effect in general, specifically how different wavelengths of light affect it. My research has yielded a few facts; that the efficiency of standard silicon solar cells...

I am using TRYNSYS software to simulate solar thermal cooling. I need to install many solar thermal panels (evacuated tubes) in parallel. However, there is no feature to do that automatically in the software; so I can only add them manually with complex piping and stuff. So my question is: Is...

Hi, I'm familiar with the expression for calculating the built-in voltage of a p-n junction. How can I find the maximum built-in voltage before the semiconductor becomes degenerate (i.e., a bad metal) if I only know the material and the intrinsic carrier concentration at a given temperature...

How much current can be forced through a photovoltaic (solar) cell before its performance starts to deteriorate? In certain accelerated lifetime testing 1.25xIsc is forced through a solar module while it sits inside a chamber (no incident light). Is there a theoretical limit to the amount of...

Elements like Silicon, Germanium and Gallium can be used to make solar cells but platinum can not be used. What is the exact reason? Is it related to threshold frequency? Tried to search for the answer through many sources, but couldn't get a satisfactory one. Your views and answers are really...

Hey physics forums Do you know if you can cut this mono crystalline solar cell in half: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ISVLPN4/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Homework Statement Hi! I have a problem with the following problem: Calculate the efficiency of the solar cells with the characteristics given in the table below Power (28 degrees, BOL): 300 W/m2 Absorptance: <91 , emittance: >82. Reliability: 0.999 . Mass: 2 kg Homework Equations I know...

Homework Statement See attached image, assignment a) Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution Using ordinary trigonometry, I got simply $$\Delta = sin(\theta_i) 2 d tan(\theta_t) n_{air} - 2n_{oxide} d/cos(\theta_t)$$. However, even if I apply Snell's law, it's not the answer I'm supposed to...

Good day everyone, So I have a spare solar panel that has been laying around and I want to put it to use. Its a small panel, about 8"X12". The specs read 8 Watts and 17 Volts I was thinking of maybe making a solar charger for phones and other 5VDC USB devices. I bought a 5VDC regulator kit...

Hi mates, I have to find solar cell efficiency by datas that given. These datas comes from an experiment in light and in dark. I found efficiency in light by square method with IV curve. But i don't know how to find in dark. The square method doesn't work cos data crossing the origin, no area to...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141125111816.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fsolar_energy+%28Solar+Energy+News+--+ScienceDaily%29 Pretty cool use of a mass produced product but how much do you think a Chuck Norris disk...

As I know, when a string of solar cells connected in series, if one of the cell is shaded, it will be reverse bias due to current mismatch and the voltage can be very high, say, 20V. But in short circuit condition, the overall voltage should be zero, if other cells are in forward bias, how can...

The current and the voltgate from solar cell are verry small, so can i add a amplicifer circuit? And How add?

Hey folks, Sorry if this is a boring topic or if it's posted in not the best subject but here goes. I'm working on a solar-power related project and will have a display set up indoors. The cells are rated at up to 10V and 150mA. Under ambient artificial light we can get the voltage...

Hello I am trying to fabricate a Si reflecting solar cell. When a Solar cell is exposed to radiation and connected to external circuit, the current will start to flow through the circuit. So I want to know how does the Reflectivity of silicon change with the current( or conductance).[...

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?