Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance

Page 1 of 9

Solar Cell Impedance Measurement

using the Bode 100

By Florian Hmmerle
2011 Omicron Lab V1.0
Visit www.omicron-lab.com for more information.
Contact support@omicron-lab.com for technical support.

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
Page 2 of 9

Table of Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................3
2 Measurement Setup ....................................................................................................4
2.1 High Impedance Bridge ...........................................................................................4
2.2 DC Bias Injector ......................................................................................................5
3 Device Configuration ..................................................................................................6
4 Calibration ...................................................................................................................7
5 Measurement & Results ..............................................................................................7
6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................9

Note: Basic procedures such as setting-up, adjusting and calibrating the Bode 100
are described in the Bode 100 user manual.
Note: All measurements in this application note have been performed with the
Bode Analyzer Suite V2.32. Use this version or a higher version to perform the
measurements detailed in this application note. You can download the latest
version at http://www.omicron-lab.com/downloads.html.

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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1 Introduction
The impedance of a solar cell depends on the frequency and the operating point of the
cell. It can therefore make sense to dynamically characterize photovoltaic (PV) modules.
In this document we show a method how to measure the dynamic impedance of a PV
module using the frequency response analyzer Bode 100. For simplification the
impedance of the solar cell is measured in a dark environment. The operating point is
then chosen by applying an external DC1 voltage bias. In this document we show how
the AC2 impedance of a PV module can be measured using the Bode 100 in conjunction
with the J2130A DC Bias Injector from Picotest.

Figure 1: Solar Cell under test soldered to a BNC connector

The figure below shows a simplified equivalent circuit model of a photovoltaic module.

Figure 2: Dynamic equivalent circuit model

The equivalent circuit consists of the following parameters which can determined by the
measurements detailed in this document:

1
2

parallel capacitance (consists of the diffusion- and the transition capacitance)

parallel resistance
(dynamic resistance of the diode)
series resistance

Direct Current
Alternating Current

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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2 Measurement Setup
2.1 High Impedance Bridge
The impedance of the examined photovoltaic module is very high (in the range of
several
). To improve the measurement accuracy in this impedance range, the
following impedance measurement bridge is used in conjunction with the Bode 100:

Figure 3: high impedance Measurement Bridge

The bridge can be built up with standard resistors as shown in the following figure. The
impedance calibration of the Bode 100 will compensate the parasitics of the bridge.

Figure 4: built up Measurement Bridge

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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2.2 DC Bias Injector

We need to bias the solar cell with a DC voltage during the measurement. To protect the
Bode 100 source we need to block the DC voltage. This can be done using the DC Bias
Injector from Picotest. The following picture shows the final measurement setup with the
Bode 100 connected to the measurement bridge and the DC Bias Injector placed
between the solar cell and the measurement bridge. The DC bias voltage is applied
using a laboratory power supply.

High impedance
measurement bridge

DC Bias
Voltage Supply

Picotest DC Bias
Injector

Solar cell under test

Figure 5: Measurement Setup

Note:

We measure the solar cell under dark conditions and control the applied DC
voltage. Therefore the solar cell needs to be protected from light during the
measurements!

Note:

Further details and information regarding the J2130A DC Bias Injector can be
found in the Application note: "DC Biased Impedance Measurements",
available from our webpage: http://www.omicron-lab.com/applicationnotes/dc-biased-impedance-measurement

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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3 Device Configuration
Measurements with the high impedance measurement bridge are performed in the
Frequency Sweep (External Coupler) mode of the Bode Analyzer Suite:

Further settings are chosen as shown below:

Start Frequency:
Stop Frequency:
Sweep Mode:
Number of Points:
Level:
Attenuator CH1 & CH2:
Receiver Bandwidth:

10 Hz
100 kHz
Logarithmic
201 or more
0 dBm
0 dB
10 Hz

The settings for trace 1 & 2 are chosen as follows:

Before the measurement can be started, the setup has to be calibrated.

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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4 Calibration
We recommend performing a User Calibration for accurate results. The calibration
window is opened by clicking on the User Calibration Icon:
OPEN, SHORT and LOAD calibration needs to be performed:
OPEN:
Nothing is connected to the
measurement output of the Bias
injector (infinite impedance)

SHORT:
A short circuit is connected to
the measurement output (zero
impedance)
LOAD:
A known resistor is connected.
We recommend using a 1k
resistor for the load calibration.
Before starting the calibration,
set the load resistor value
according to your used resistor!
After having performed the calibration the measurement can be started.

5 Measurement & Results

30000

25000

-2000

20000

-4000

15000

-6000

10000
-8000
5000
-10000
0

101

102

103

104

f/Hz
TR1: Real(Impedance)

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TR2: Imag(Impedance)

105

TR2/Ohm

TR1/Ohm

A DC bias voltage of 5.6 V is applied to the photovoltaic module. This results in a

voltage drop of 0.7 V per cell (8 cells are connected in series in the examined cell)
Starting a single sweep (
) results in the following curve:

Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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From this curve the equivalent circuit model of the PV module can be derived. At low
{ }
frequencies the real part of the impedance equals
. At
the
{ }
real part of the impedance equals
.

TR1/Ohm

25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0

101

102

103

104

105

f/Hz
TR1: Real(Impedance)

From these results the resistors of the equivalent circuit model can be calculated as
follows:

The capacitance can be derived from the measured admittance of the photovoltaic
module. Neglecting the series resistance the capacitance can directly be measured in
the Bode Analyzer Suite by selecting:
Measurement: Admittance
Format: Cp.
This results in a parallel capacitance of
.
We therefore arrive at the following simplified equivalent circuit model of the measured
photovoltaic module:

Note: This model is only valid for a bias voltage of

applied to the photovoltaic
module.
The parameters depend on the applied DC voltage respectively the amount of
light the solar cell is exposed to.

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Bode 100 - Application Note

Solar Cell Impedance
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As mentioned the parameters depend on the applied DC bias voltage. Different bias
voltages lead to different results. The following curves show the real and imaginary part
of the module impedance with 0.55 V, 0.6 V, 0.65 V and 0.7 V bias voltages per cell
applied to the photovoltaic module. (The module consists of 8 cells therefore the total
voltage equals 8 times the voltage per cell)

6 Conclusion
In this document we demonstrate how the AC impedance of a photovoltaic module or a
single solar cell can be measured using the Bode 100 in conjunction with the Picotest
J2130A DC-Bias Injector. The results from this measurement can be used to derive a
dynamic small signal model of the solar cell. Such models help to ensure the stability of
solar driven power systems with e.g. solar cell arrays and voltage regulators.

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