Advances in Renewable Energies and Power Technologies: Volume 1: Solar and Wind Energies

Rev. 2016;60:795–809.

Part 1

PV Energy

Outline

Chapter 1. Solar Cells and Arrays: Principles, Analysis, and Design

Chapter 2. Solar PV Power Plants Site Selection: A Review

Chapter 3. Forecasting of Intermittent Solar Energy Resource

Chapter 4. Performance of MPPT Techniques of Photovoltaic Systems Under Normal and Partial Shading Conditions

Chapter 5. DMPPT PV System: Modeling and Control Techniques

Chapter 6. Flexible Power Control of Photovoltaic Systems

Chapter 7. Strategies for Fault Detection and Diagnosis of PV Systems

Chapter 8. Hybrid PV/Batteries Bank/Diesel Generator Solar-Renewable Energy System Design, Energy Management, and Economics

Chapter 9. Design Principles of Photovoltaic Irrigation Systems

Chapter 10. Scalar and Vector Control of Induction Motor for Online Photovoltaic Pumping

Chapter 11. Energy Management for PV Installations

Chapter 1

Solar Cells and Arrays

Principles, Analysis, and Design

Abdelhalim Zekry¹, Ahmed Shaker², and Marwa Salem³     ¹Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt     ²Department of Engineering Physics and Mathematics, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt     ³Department of Computer Engineering, Computer College, Hail University, Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This chapter is built around the photovoltaic solar cells and their arrays. It is devoted to their operating principles and their analysis and design. The solar cells and panels will be characterized in detail. In addition, their fabrication and testing will be presented. Modeling and simulation techniques are presented at both the circuit and device levels. The chapter is written for the device and system engineers and scientists.

Keywords

Matlab®; Modelling and simulation; PSpice; Solar arrays; Solar cell materials; Solar cells analysis; Solar modules; Testing of solar cells and modules

Chapter Outline

1. Introduction

1.1 General Photovoltaic System

1.2 The Solar Radiation

1.3 The Incident Solar Radiation Insolation

2. Properties of Semiconductors for Solar Cells

2.1 The Energy Gap Eg and Intrinsic Concentration ni

2.2 Doping and Conductivity of the Material

2.3 The Semiconductor Currents

2.4 Recombination Mechanisms and Minority Carrier Lifetime

2.5 Optical Properties

3. The Dark p–n Junction Diode

3.1 Formation of a Field Region in a p–n Junction

3.2 The Ideal Dark I–V Characteristics of the p–n Diode

3.3 Real Dark Diode Characteristics

4. The Solar Cells

4.1 The PV Effect of a p–n Solar Cell

4.2 The I–V Characteristics of the Solar Cell

4.3 The Conversion Efficiency of a Solar Cell

4.4 Measurement Results and Practical Considerations

4.5 Manufacturing Solar Cells

4.6 Testing the Solar Cell and Solar Panels

5. The PV Arrays

5.1 The I–V Characteristics of the Module

5.2 The I–V Characteristics of Mismatched Cells in the Module

5.3 Formation of Hot Spots

5.4 Measurement Data and Practical Considerations

5.5 The Solar Cell Array

5.6 The Flat Plate Modules

5.7 Failure Modes of the Modules

5.8 The Glassing Factor of the Module

6. Circuit and Device Simulation of Solar Cells and Modules

6.1 Circuit-Level Simulation

6.1.1 Summary of Mathematical Modeling

6.1.2 Parameter Extraction

6.1.3 PSpice Model of the Solar Cell

6.1.4 Case Studies

6.2 TCAD Simulation of Solar Cells

6.2.1 Qualitative Analysis for the Novel npn Solar Cell Structure

6.2.2 Construction of npn Solar Cell Structure Using Athena

6.2.3 Electrical and Optical Characterization for the npn Structure Performance

6.2.4 The Simulation of the Effect of Different n+ Emitter Sidewall Surfaces on the Electrical Performance

References

Further Reading

1. Introduction

The main energy source in our earth is the sun radiation [1]. The solar radiation amounts to 1.7  ×  10¹⁷  W; 34% will be reflected back, 42% will be converted to heat directly, 23% is stored in water vapor, wind water waves consumes about 1%, and plants consume 0.023%.

The human consumption comes from fossil fuel, nuclear energy from uranium, and geo heat. Any forms of energy are converted to heat and ultimately to radiation. Till now, there is no appreciable direct conversion path from the solar radiation to the human consumption. This is because:

• There is no efficient conversion machine till now,

• The solar radiation has a low density,

• The solar power is not constant. It varies daily, from season to season, and also from place to place on the earth.

1.1. General Photovoltaic System

The photovoltaic (PV) system converts the solar radiation into electricity directly. The block diagram of a general PV system is shown in Fig. 1.1.

It consists of the following building blocks:

1. The PV array: Its function is the conversion of solar radiation into electricity. It is the major unit in the system.

Figure 1.1  The general photovoltaic system.

2. Battery storage: To be available at the absence of the solar radiation, the electric energy produced by the array must be partly stored, normally using batteries. So, the second main unit is the battery storage.

3. Power conditioning circuits: According to the nature of the load, the generated electric power must be conditioned using DC/DC converters and DC/AC inverters.

The PV array is composed of solar modules. Each module contains a matrix of solar cells connected in series and parallel to satisfy the terminal properties of the whole generator. Accordingly, the solar cell is the basic element in the PV generator. This element is the basic solar radiation converter into electricity.

1.2. The Solar Radiation

One must be able to describe the solar radiation as it is the input power source to the PV generators. The sun emits electromagnetic radiations as a black body having a surface temperature of about 6000  K. This is because of the nuclear reaction running in it, where the sun is converting hydrogen into helium. The radius of the sun amounts to 1.39  ×  10⁹  m. The total radiation power received from the sun on a unit area perpendicular to the sun rays at the mean earth–sun distance, termed an astronomical unit, is called the solar constant (SC), where 1 astronomical unit  =  1 AU  =  1.496  ×  10¹¹  m. The solar radiation intensity at other distances is expressed in terms of SC with SC  =  1.353  kW/m² [2]. Like a black body radiation, the sun’s radiation covers a wide spectrum of wavelengths from deep ultraviolet to far infrared. The power spectral distribution of the sunlight [3] is shown in Fig. 1.2.

The vertical axis represents the spectral irradiance I(λ) while the horizontal axis represents the wavelength in μm. The irradiance I(λ) is equal to the incident solar power/m²/δλ  =  [W/m²/μm], where δλ is the respective wavelength range in μm. It is clear from this figure that the maximum spectral irradiance lies at λ  =  0.5  μm. The spectral irradiance decreases because of the presence of air in the atmosphere. The air molecules scatter and absorb the solar radiation. There are multiple absorption bands for O2, H2O, and CO2. It is important to notice that the solar irradiance resembles the black body radiation at ∼6000  K represented by the dashed line.

Figure 1.2  The power spectral distribution of the sunlight.

The solar power intensity without the effect of the atmosphere or ground surface is called the Air Mass Zero where one AM0  =  1 SC  =  135.3  mW/cm². The solar power intensity after crossing one air mass perpendicular to the earth is called the air mass 1, AM1. It represents the area under the spectral irradiance curve and amounts to 92.5  mW/cm². If θ is the angle of incidence with normal to the earth surface, then the optical path in units of the air mass will be larger. The air mass AM  =  1/(cos θ) [4].

1.3. The Incident Solar Radiation Insolation

The actual incident solar radiation, the insolation is the incident solar power per unit area at certain location and it varies according to:

1. the position on the earth, because of the earth’s spin axes inclination

2. the time of the day because of earth spinning

3. the month of the year because of the earth rotation around the sun

4. the angle of incidence

5. the presence of clouds in the air mass and environmental effects

As an illustration, Fig. 1.3A shows the insolation within the hours of the day in watts per square meter, with the insolation reaching its peak at noon. Moreover, Fig. 1.3B shows the insolation among the months of the year, for Kansas City at latitude 39.1° N, where January has the lowest insolation while July has the highest. Complete measured INSOLATION DATA in a specific place on the earth can be obtained from the nearest Regional Climate Centers or from national insolation databases such as the National Solar Radiation Database in the United States [5]. In addition, insolation could be calculated according to the method developed in the Web site [6].

Figure 1.3  (A) INSOLATION within the hours of the day and (B) insolation within the months of the year.

Design considerations

The PV generator must be designed to supply the load safely in smallest Insolation days in winter, and the climatic variations must be taken into consideration in array reliability.

2. Properties of Semiconductors for Solar Cells

In this section, the properties of semiconductors for solar cells will be introduced. Solar cells are made of semiconductors as the active material. To understand the operation of the solar cells and optimize their characteristics, one has to understand thoroughly their material properties because there is a direct relationship between the cell performance and the material properties.

Semiconductors are a class of materials that have electrical conductivity between the metal and insulators. Accordingly, their electrical characteristics can be controlled by doping and by light. They can be classified according to their chemical structure in elementary form such as Si and Ge, in compound form such as AIII BV and AII BVI [7–9], or molecular form such as the organic semiconductors or the perovskites which are hybrid metal organic molecules [10]. All semiconductors have common distinguished properties that govern their performance. The major properties controlling their electrical and optical behavior will be discussed in the next subsections. The first property is the atomic structures of the materials. It has a large impact on their performance. There are three distinct atomic arrangements for any material:

1. Crystalline, where the atoms are perfectly ordered in a three-dimensional array

2. Amorphous, where the atoms of the material have random order compared with their original sites in the single crystal

3. Polycrystalline, where the material is composed of crystallographic grains joined together by grain boundaries.

Fig. 1.4 shows an illustration of the three possible structures for a semiconductor material. The solar cells made of crystals give the highest efficiency and those made of amorphous materials give the lowest efficiency. But a much thicker layer of crystalline silicon is required to absorb the light (∼300  μm) in comparison with a-Si requiring only ∼5  μm. Therefore, there is a considerable material saving using a-Si.

Figure 1.4  Three possible structures for a semiconductor material.

2.1. The Energy Gap Eg and Intrinsic Concentration ni

A semiconductor has an electron-filled valence band and an empty conduction band. The two bands are separated by an energy gap Eg. It ranges from few tenths of electron-Volts to few electron-Volts. Silicon has an energy gap of 1.1  eV and GaAs Eg  =  1.45  eV. Elementary semiconductors are characterized by saturated covalent bonds as shown in Fig. 1.5, where each atom is bonded to the neighboring atoms by four covalent bonds.

The valence electrons are shared by the neighboring atoms and are bound by the parent atoms. They are locally fixed and are not capable of conducting electricity. To make such materials conduct electricity we have to free valence electrons. This can be done by doing work sufficient to break the bond. This work can be affected by heating, illuminating the material with a suitable light, and doping the material with suitable impurities.

Any semiconductor material works at room temperature, and hence, it contains heat and bonds will be broken thermally. When a bond is broken, it produces a free hole and a free electron. Both are capable of conducting electricity in the material. The minimum energy required to break a bond and generate an electron–hole (e–h) pair is called the energy gap. The energy gap separates the free electrons from the free holes as illustrated in Fig. 1.6.

The electrons are in the conduction band, where they occupy their lowest allowed energy states with an effective overall density of Nc, whereas the holes with positive charges occupy the allowed electronic states in the top of valence band with an effective density of states Nv. This is illustrated in Fig. 1.6. If the material is pure and its temperature is T  >  0  K, it contains an electron concentration no  =  ni and a hole concentration po  =  ni, where ni is the intrinsic concentration with ni is the thermally generated electron–hole pairs. It is related to Eg and T . kBT is the thermal energy  =  25.6  meV at room temperature (T  =  300  K). For silicon, ni  =  1.5  ×  10¹⁰  cm−³  at 300  K.

Figure 1.5  The covalent bonds in elementary semiconductors.

Figure 1.6  The illustration of energy gap E g and energy level diagram.

2.2. Doping and Conductivity of the Material

One of the main properties of the semiconductors is the possibility to alter their electrical characteristics by doping. Doping is intentional addition of specific impurities to the material to produce n-type or p-type conductors and change the electron and hole concentration in the material. To produce n-type Si, we add pentavalent impurity atoms to Si such as P and As, whereas for p-type Si, we add trivalent atoms such as B, Ga, and Al to Si. The charge picture after doping is illustrated in Fig. 1.7.

The product of the concentration po and no of any semiconductor at temperature T , which is called the mass action law. The conductivity of the semiconductor material can be, generally, expressed by

(1.1)

where q is the electron charge; μn is the electron mobility; and μp is the hole mobility. So, the conductivity of the n-type material is

(1.2a)

and that of the p-type material is

(1.2b)

ND is the donor concentration and NA, is the acceptor concentration. The conductivity increases by increasing the doping of semiconductor according to Eqs. (1.2a) and (1.2b).

Figure 1.7  Charge picture after doping the semiconductor silicon.

2.3. The Semiconductor Currents

If a voltage V is applied across a semiconductor bar with length L and cross-sectional area A, a current will flow in the bar because of the drift of electrons and holes under the influence of the electric field E developed by the voltage V in the bar as shown in Fig. 1.8.

This current follows the ohm's law for relatively small electric fields, i.e.,

(1.3)

where

Jd is the drift current density. The mobility μ is the ability of the mobile charges to acquire drift velocities in the presence of the electric field.

Another type of current exists in a semiconductor when concentration differences of mobile changes are present. Such current is termed the diffusion current Jdif. This current can be expressed by

(1.4a)

(1.4b)

where Dn and Dp are the concentration gradients for electrons and holes, respectively. The diffusion coefficient D is related to the mobility by the Einstein equation

(1.5)

with VT  =  the thermal voltage  =  kBT/q. Mobility and the diffusion constant are properties of the semiconductor materials that depend on temperature and doping.

Figure 1.8  A drift current I in a semiconductor by applying voltage V.

2.4. Recombination Mechanisms and Minority Carrier Lifetime

The recombination is an intrinsic property of any semiconductor material. In this process, the electron meets a hole and completes a broken bond. Both are going to be lost. There are different recombination mechanisms: the band to band radiative recombination, the band impurity band Shockley–Read–Hall nonradiative recombination, and Auger recombination. Every mechanism has its specific rate equations [11]. Fig. 1.9 illustrates the fact that an excess of electrons and holes Δn  =  Δp disappears after an average τ.

So, the recombination rate is (Δn/τ). Any electron hole pair can survive only on the average the lifetime. As they move continuously, electrons and holes travel certain specific distance in their life time called the diffusion length L. This length is an important property controlling the solar cell performance. For silicon, it amounts to 1–500  μm.

2.5. Optical Properties

We are interested in understanding the response of the semiconductor to light, i.e., the photoelectric effect. If a light beam is incident on a semiconductor material, part of the light energy will be reflected, a part will be absorbed inside the material after refraction, and the remaining part will be transmitted. According to energy conservation law, we can write

(1.6)

Here, I is the incident light energy, R the reflected, A the absorbed and T (where μ and ε are the permeability and permittivity of the medium, respectively), which changes at the surface of the material. The reflectance ρ is given by

(1.7)

where Zwa . It is assumed that light is falling perpendicular to the surface. For Si, with ε  =  12εo and μ  =  μo the reflectance is ρ  =  0.3. This means that the reflected part of incident light amounts to 0.3, which is an appreciable part.

Figure 1.9  Illustration of the decay of an excess of electrons and holes.

The absorption of the light energy is characterized by the absorption coefficient α, where

(1.8)

which means that the incident light intensity I(x) decays exponentially with the distance x from the surface of incidence as illustrated in Fig. 1.10.

The intensity decays to (1/e) of the maximum at x  =  1/α. Therefore, the inverse of α is the average penetration depth of the light in the material, or may be better named the average absorption length. The absorption coefficient depends on the wavelength of the incident light.

It is well established now that light is composed of energy quanta called photons. These photons interact with the electrons and atoms of the material. The photon energy is given by Eph  =  hf, where h is Planck's constant and f is the photon frequency. On the other side, photons are wave packets having a wavelength λ, and velocity c  =  3  ×  10⁸  m/s such that c  =  λf. Therefore, Eph  =  h(c/λ), the photon energy is inversely proportional to the light wavelength. Now, we are able to understand how the light affects the material. Only valence electrons can absorb photons when they can acquire sufficient energy to overcome the energy gap of the material. If this happens, it is called the photon generation process of an electron–hole pair. This process is illustrated in Fig. 1.11.

From Fig. 1.11, the required minimum photon energy for the photogeneration process Eph  ≥  Eg. Energy-rich photons, where Eph  ∼  2 Eg, cannot produce 2 e–h pairs except with a very small probability as this process requires the collision of photons with two electrons simultaneously if it is a direct process.

Figure 1.10  Decay of light intensity with an absorption coefficient alpha.

Figure 1.11  The process of photogeneration of electron hole pairs.

The absorption coefficient alpha is a function of the incident wavelength of the photons and it is a material property. Fig. 1.12 shows the absorption coefficient of different semiconductors as a function of the wavelength [12]. The energy gap of the material is also given. It is clear from this figure that materials absorb light appreciably (α  >  10⁴  m−¹) only if Eph  ≥  Eg. A second important observation is that α of Si rises slowly with decreased wavelength compared with the other materials shown in the diagram. This is because of the indirect nature of band gap of this material.

The longer wavelength photons with smaller alpha need a thicker layer of the semiconductor to be absorbed; otherwise, they can be transmitted across the layer. Generally, the minimum semiconductor layer thickness to absorb light can be expressed by

Figure 1.12  Absorption coefficient as a function of wavelength for different materials.

(1.9)

This simple relation is of a very critical importance for solar cell design. As the semiconductors are expensive, one should use the minimum quantity of to perform the absorption function. In this scenario, one needs thicker crystalline Si-layers as it has the lowest α. This is true for thin-film solar cells. For wafer-based conventional solar cells, the minimum layer thickness is limited by the mechanical rigidity.

3. The Dark p–n Junction Diode

The commercial solar cells are basically p–n junction diode structures constructed to receive the solar radiation. To understand the operating principles underlying the solar cell, one has to study first the p–n junction diode. Solar cells are made of either homotype p–n junctions, heterotype junctions, or even multi-junction. The homotype is from the same material, whereas the heterotype is from two different materials. The operating principles are the same. So, we confine ourselves to the homo junctions. The solar cell in darkness is a p–n diode, whose dark characteristics set the limits for the illuminated characteristics. From the principle point of view, an illuminated solar cell  =  a short circuit cell under light  +  a dark biased p–n diode.

3.1. Formation of a Field Region in a p–n Junction

A p–n junction is the metallurgical boundary between an n-type region and a p-type region in a semiconductor as shown schematically in Fig. 1.13 [11].

It can be proved both experimentally and theoretically that a space charge region is formed around the metallurgical junction while the remaining parts of the diode remain neutral under no bias. This layer is formed because of immigration of holes from the p-side to the n-side and the electrons from the n-side to the p-side around the metallurgical junction. They leave behind them un-neutralized acceptor and donor ions as shown in Fig. 1.13. The electric field associated with the charges establishes opposing forces for further migration of holes and electrons, leading to equilibrium such that no net current of either type exists. The width of this field region under no bias is of the order of few tenths of a micrometer depending on the doping concentrations NA and ND. There is a potential difference associated with this built-in or internal electric field. The name built-in comes from the fact that this electric field is caused by the material inhomogeneity and not by an external electric source. This built-in potential difference is termed the contact difference of potential pointing out that such potential differences are formed if two dissimilar materials are brought into intimate contact as in a p–n junction where it could be thought that a p–n junction is formed by intimately contacting p- and n-type materials. The contact difference of potential φ can be expressed by

Figure 1.13  The p–n junction diode regions.

The contact difference of potential φ separates the two sides of the p–n junction and therefore constitutes a potential barrier. The electromotive force of the solar cell as a photoelectric generator is directly related to φ. As φ increases, the open-circuit voltage of the cell increases. So, the doping concentrations NA and ND must be as high as possible. Also, φ can be increased by selecting a material with higher Eg and consequently with lower ni. The field region is essential for the solar cell operation. It originates the electromotive force of the cell exactly like the chemical battery.

3.2. The Ideal Dark I–V Characteristics of the p–n Diode

Let us now study the current conduction in a forward biased p–n diode. To forward bias the diode, a battery with a voltage Va is connected across the diode with the positive poles connected to the anode attached to the p-side, whereas the negative pole is connected to the cathode attached to the n-side as shown in Fig. 1.14.

On forward biasing the diode, the space charge region contracts and the separation potential decreases. Consequently, holes will be injected from the p-side to the n-side and electrons will be injected from the n-side to the p-side as illustrated in Fig. 1.14. The injected holes Δp diffuses away from the space charge region edge at x  =  0 towards the metallic contact where they recombine gradually in the n-side. The same happens with electrons injected from n-side to the p-side. The rate of injection of holes across the field region gives a current Ipi while that of electrons gives a current Ini. The total diode current

(1.10)

As illustrated in Fig. 1.14, the injected charges decay exponentially with distance measured from the edges of the field region