Photovoltaic Physics and Materials

Lecture Note
2009/2010 Semester 2

WANG, QING
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
National University of Singapore

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 About this module:
1. Main Reference: The Physics of Solar Cells. J. Nelson. Imperial
College Press, 2003.

2. Assignments (10%)
3. Tutorials: recitation/discussion/Q&A (10%)
4. Project Report (30%)
5. Final Exam: open book (50%)
6. I assume you have the basic knowledge of thermodynamics,
semiconductor physics.
7. A web blog will be built for this module (http://blog.nus.edu.sg/
msewq/). You are welcome to write to me for any questions you have
for this module. (EMAIL: msewq@nus.edu.sg)

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The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Greek
φώς (phos) meaning "light", and "voltaic",
meaning electric, from the name of the Italian
physicist Volta, after whom a unit of electrical
potential, the volt, is named. The term "photo-
voltaic" has been in use in English since 1849.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell

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4
 What we will discuss...
1. Introduction and Characteristics of Solar Cells
2. Photon in, Electron out: Basic Principle of PV
3. Electrons and Holes in Semiconductors
4. Generation and Recombination
5. Junctions and Analysis of p-n Junction
6. Monocrystalline Solar Cells
7. Thin Film Solar Cells (I)
8. Thin Film Solar Cells (II)
9. Photoelectrochemical Cells (I)
10.Photoelectrochemical Cells (II)
11.Over the Limit: Third Generation Photovoltaics (I)
12.Over the Limit: Third Generation Photovoltaics (II)

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 Lecture 1

Introduction and Characteristics of Solar Cells

References:
1. The Physics of Solar Cells. Jenny Nelson. Imperial College Press,
2003.
2. Photovoltaic Materials, Series on Properties of Semiconductor
Materials, Vol.1, Richard H. Bube, Imperial College Press, 1998.
3. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).

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 Our Energy Challenges
Energy Sources: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Schollnberger 1998 after Shell International Ltd 1996

• At MINIMUM we need 10 Terawatts from some new clean energy source

by 2050. For worldwide peace and prosperity we need it to be cheap.
• We simply can not do this with current technology.
• Our energy challenges are real and here!

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 World Solar Energy Map

http://cleantechlawandbusiness.com/

Solar energy supply to the earth: ca 3 million exajoules per year. Current
energy demand of the world is 474 exajoules. This could be fully met by
covering 0.15 % of the earth’s surface with PV panels having 10% efficiency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption

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 Utilization of Solar Energy: Ancient Day

Archimedes Burning Mirror A Mouchot solar concentrator, Paris, 1880

(Death Ray), 514 A.D.

Power of Light-The Epic Story of Man’s Quest to Harness the Sun, Frank T. Kryza, McGraw-Hill, 2003.

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 The Photovoltaic Effect

light
p n
Metal UV light
Current
e-
e-

Load

Photoelectric effect Photovoltaic effect

• Light is made up of packets of energy, called photons. hc

E=
• Energy of light depends only upon its frequency or color. λ
• Blue or ultraviolet light provides energy for electron to escape from
the surface of a metal---Photoelectric effect.
• Built-in asymmetry in photovoltaic device pulls the excited electrons
to the external circuit before they can relax. €

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 Brief History of Solar Cells
1. Photovoltaic effect was first reported by Alexandre-
Edmond Becquerel in 1839. The first photo-
electrochemical cell.
2. The first solid state photovoltaic devices were
constructed by William Adams and Richard Day in
1876. Pt/Se/Pt
3. The first large area solar cell was prepared by Charles
Fritts in 1894. Au/Se/M
Cu/CuO, Pb/PbS, Tl/TlS
The early cells were thin film Schottky barrier devices.
First revealed by Goldman and Brodsky in 1914, and later during the
1930s, the theory of Metal/Semiconductor barrier layers was
developed by Walter Schottky, Neville Mott and others.

http://www.swiscontrol.com/SWISCONTROL/Mapas%20de%20Bocas%20del%20Toro/PAGINAS%20HTML/HYSTORIA%20PV.html

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 Brief History of Solar Cells
4. The first silicon p-n junction solar cell was reported by Bell Lab
researchers D.M. Chapin, C.S. Fuller and G.L. Pearson in 1954.
5. In the 1950s, CdS, GaSe, InP, CdTe p-n junction photovoltaic
devices were studied experimentally and theoretically.
6. In 1958, the first PV-powered satellite (Vanguard I) was launched,
despite the production cost of ~$200 per Watt.
7. In the 1970s, the “energy crisis” led to intense interest for R&D of
photovoltaics. Various strategies and routes for cheaper and more
efficient photovoltaics were explored. Our understanding of the
science of photovoltaics is mainly rooted in this period.
8. In the late 1990s, by expanding the production scale photovoltaics
first became competitive in contexts where conventional
electricity supply is most expensive.
9. Benefitted from the advances of silicon technology for the micro-
electronics industry, silicon remained and remains the foremost
photovoltaic material.

http://www.swiscontrol.com/SWISCONTROL/Mapas%20de%20Bocas%20del%20Toro/PAGINAS%20HTML/HYSTORIA%20PV.html

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41.6% @364X

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Global Solar Cells Production

Cost and production

of PV modules

Source: JRC PV Status Report 2009

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Global Solar Cells Production

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 Types of Solar Energy Converter
Photovoltaic converter:
excited state Means of charge separation
• Convert the incident radiant energy
mainly into electrochemical potential
energy. Eg
hν
• Absorption of photon promotes
electron to higher energy (excited
ground state
state), which should be separated
from the ground state by an energy Solar thermal converter:
gap (e.g. band gap in • The radiant energy absorbed is converted
semiconductors). mainly into internal energy and raised the
• Charges are separated, collected and temperature of the cell.
extracted to external circuit and do • It operates as a heat engine and does work.
electrical work. • It utilizes the full range of solar wavelengths.
• It extracts solar energy only from • It is thermally insulated from the ambient.
photons with energy sufficient to
Photochemical converter:
bridge the band gap.
• It is designed to be in good thermal • The radiant energy absorbed results in a
permanent increase in chemical
contact with the ambient.
potential. e.g. photosynthesis.
• The excited electron population drives a
chemical reaction.

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 A Comparison with Battery
Battery: Solar Cell:
• EMF: Permanent electrochemical • EMF: Temporary change in
potential difference between two electrochemical potential
phases in the cell. caused by the light.
• Power delivered to a constant load • Power delivered depends on
is relatively constant. the incident light intensity.
• Exhausted as it is completely • Never exhausted since it can
discharged. It can be recharged for be continually recharged with
rechargeable batteries. light.
• Voltage generator Voltage • Current generator

BATTERY SOLAR CELL hν

battery e.m.f.

Increasing light intensity

RL RL
Current

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 Some Important Definitions
Open Circuit Voltage (VOC): The voltage developed as the terminals are
isolated (or with infinite load resistance).
Short Circuit Current (ISC): The current drawn as the terminals are connected
(or with zero load resistance).
SOLAR CELL hν

JSC
Current Density, J

Jm

RL

For any intermediate load

resistance RL, the cell develops a
0 Vm VOC voltage V between 0 and VOC, and
delivers a current I with
Bias Voltage, V
V = IRL
Both I (photocurrent) and V (photovoltage) are determined by the illumination
and the load.
€

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Photocurrent and Quantum Efficiency
Relation between photocurrent density and quantum efficiency:

J SC = q ∫ bs ( E )QE ( E ) dE

bs(E): the incident spectral photon flux density. The number of photons
of energy in the range E to E+dE which are incident on unit area in unit
time. €
QE(E): the quantum efficiency. The probability that an incident photon
of energy E will deliver one electron to the external circuit.

QE depends on the absorption coefficient of the solar cell material,

the efficiency of charge separation and efficiency of charge
collection. It is a key quantity in describing solar cell performance.

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Photocurrent and Quantum Efficiency

1240 nm
E= (eV )
λ

Incident Photo-to-Electron Conversion Efficiency (IPCE) Spectrum/Action

Spectrum
J SC = q ∫ bs ( E )QE ( E ) dE

€
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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Dark Current and Open Circuit Voltage
Dark current: in the opposite direction to the photocurrent, generated by a
potential difference developed between the terminals of the cell in the
presence of a load. Analogue to the current Idark (V) which flows across the
device under an applied voltage V in the dark.

hν
+
V

JSC Jdark -
Most solar cells behave like a diode in the dark and show rectifying behavior
since an asymmetric junction is needed to achieve charge separation. For an
ideal diode,
  qV  
J dark (V ) = JO exp  −1
  kB T  
JO is reverse saturation current, kB is Boltzmann’s constant (1.38×10-23 JK-1).

€
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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
  qV  
Dark Current and Open Circuit Voltage J dark (V ) = JO exp  −1
  kB T  
Superposition approximation:
ISC
  qV  
Light Current
J = J SC − JO exp  −1 €

Current
  kB T  
At open circuit voltage VOC, no current flows
across the cell, for an ideal diode,
0 Dark Current
VOC
€ k B T  J SC 
VOC = ln + 1
q  JO  Bias Voltage

Here voltage is defined so that the photovoltage

occurs in forward bias, where V>0.
hν
+
At V<0, the device acts as a photodetector,
consuming
€ power to generate a photocurrent.
V
Light dependent/bias independent.
At V>VOC, the device acts as light emitting
diode, again consuming power.
JSC Jdark -

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Efficiency of Solar Cells
The cell power density is given by
P = JV Maximum Power Point
JSC
P reaches a maximum at the cell’s
operating point or maximum power Jm

Current Density, J
point at Vm and Jm. The optimum
load €
has resistance of Vm/Jm. Power Density

Efficiency η of the cell: the power

density delivered at operating point
as a fraction of the incident light 0 Vm VOC
power density Ps.
J mVm Bias Voltage, V
η=
PS
J SCVOC FF
Relating to JSC and VOC, η=
PS
FF is the fill factor describing the “squareness” of the J-V curve, defined as
€ J mVm
FF =
€ J SCVOC

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
These four quantities: JSC, VOC, FF and η are the key performance
characteristics of a solar cell. All of these should be defined for particular
illumination condition.

Performance of the Mainstream Solar Cells

Cell type Area (cm2) Voc (V) Jsc (mA/cm2) FF Efficiency (%)
crystalline Si 4.0 0.706 42.2 82.8 24.7
crystalline GaAs 3.9 1.022 28.2 87.1 25.1
poly-Si 1.1 0.654 38.1 79.5 19.8
a-Si 1.0 0.887 19.4 74.1 12.7
CuInGaSe2 1.0 0.669 35.7 77.0 18.4
CdTe 1.1 0.848 25.9 74.5 16.4

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Parasitic Resistance
For a real cell, two parasitic resistances used to account for the power
dissipation through the resistance of the contacts and through leakage
currents around the sides of the device. One is in series (RS) and one
is in parallel (Rsh) with the cell.

hν Rs +
Rsh V

JSC Jdark -

  q(V + JARS )   V + JAR

S
J = J SC − J 0 exp −1
  −
  kB T   ARsh

€
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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Effect of Parasitic Resistance
The series resistance arises from the resistance of the cell material to
current flow, a particular problem at high current densities. The parallel
or shunt resistance arises from the leakage of current through the cell,
a problem in poor rectifying devices.
Current

Current
Rs increasing Rsh decreasing

Bias Bias

Both RS and Rsh reduce the fill factor of the cell. For an efficient cell, RS
should be as small and Rsh should be as large as possible.

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 Characteristics of Solar Cells
Non-ideal Diode Behavior
In real device, it is common for the dark current to depend more weakly on
bias. The actual dependence on V is quantified by an ideality factor, m.

  qV  
J = J SC − JO exp  −1
  mk B T  
The ideal diode equation assumes that all the recombination occurs via band
to band or recombination via traps in the bulk areas from the device (i.e. not
in the junction).€
The presence of other recombination mechanisms renders the deviation of
m from 1. Typically, 1<m<2.

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Solar Cells, Modules and Systems

• The solar cell is the basic building block

of solar photovoltaics.
• To produce useful dc voltage, the cells
are connected in series and encapsulated
into modules.

+V
String

0V

+12V
0

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 Solar Cells, Modules and Systems

PV Power
Load
generator conditioning

Storage
Battery-dc/Grid-ac

Residential grid-connected PV system Grid Tie with Backup Power (battery based)

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 Summary
• History and current status of solar cells.
• Equivalent circuit of solar cells.
• Some important parameters for solar cells: dark current,
short circuit current, open circuit voltage, maximum
power point, fill factor, efficiency, quantum yield,
parasitic resistance, PV module.
• Diode equation.

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