ENERGY PRACTICE

REPORT SOSE 2014

Experiment 1: Solar Cells

Diego Felipe Mendoza Osorio;Luis Daniel Pieres Gomez

diegofelipe.mendozaosorio@haw-hamburg.de; luisdaniel.pineresgomez@haw-hamburg.de

Contents
1.

Introduction................................................................................................................................2

2.

Experimental Set-up..................................................................................................................2

3.

Results and Discussion.............................................................................................................4

3.1

Basic Circuits: Parallel Connection. ..................................................................................4

3.2

Basic Circuits: Series Connection. ....................................................................................5

3.3

Basic Circuits: Shading Influence......................................................................................7

3.4

Incident Angle. ...................................................................................................................9

3.5

Temperature Properties...................................................................................................10

1. Introduction
Since their development in 1954, when solar cells were produced by Bell laboratories, this
technology has experience a strong increase in efficiency and applications. Nowadays
with efficiencies reaching 25 % under laboratory conditions, silicon solar cells became a
reliable renewable energy source. Although the moderate costs for producing solar cells,
this technology offers the highest versatility among other energy technologies, mainly due
to the modularity. The generator sizes could be realized from a milliwatt range for pocket
calculators for example, up to the megawatt range for public electricity supply.
In this practice the main objective is to have a better understanding of the influence of
different operating conditions on the parameters of solar cells. In a first step, the
arrangement of the solar cells (series and parallel connection) was modified and
properties such as short circuit current, open circuit voltage and maximum power point
(MPP) were measured. Secondly, with a fixed set-up of solar cells in parallel, the behavior
of the parameters was analyzed adjusting the incident angle between the light source and
the cells arrangement. Finally, a temperature dependency test of current, voltage and
power on a single solar cell was performed.

2. Experimental Set-up
There were 3 different setups for this experiment. In the first set-up, solar cells connected
in series with different combinations (2, 4, 6, 8 cells) were tested to get the characteristic
curves of each setup. In the same way were tested the same solar cells but connected in
parallel with the different combinations (2, 4, 6, 8 cells). In the figure 1 and 2, the electric
diagrams of the setups are shown.

2
4
A

6
8

V
DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

Figure 1. Series Connection Configuration.

8
A

L
DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

DC

Figure 2. Parallel Connection Configuration.

The Ammeter, Voltmeter and load were incorporated in the testing device, therefore they
were not able to be manipulated in any sort of way. The results were acquired by software
in a .Lab file.
For the second set up, an arrangement of 8 cell in parallel was used to perform an incident
angle test. In the test bench, the board that embeds the solar cell arrangement could be
turned to a fixed angle as can be observed in the figure 3.

90
80
70
60
50
0 10 20 30

40

Figure 3. Test Bench for Incident Angle Measurement.

The circuit configuration used to test the system was the same as shown in figure 2, taking
into account that the whole set of solar cells were plugged (8 cells).
For the third set up, the
dependency of a single
controlled electronically.
characteristic curves. The
each test.

test bench was changed in order to probe the temperature

solar cell. The temperature on the cell was measured and
Different cell temperatures were achieved to get the
same software and file extension were obtained as a result from

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Basic Circuits: Parallel Connection.
From the figure 4, it could be observed that the short circuit current is directly proportional
to the number of cells connected in parallel, while the open circuit voltage remains
unchanged. The maximum power point, indicated as black dots in the graph, is slightly
shifted to the left side (low voltage side) but highly shifted upwards (high current side),
showing a directly proportional power to the number of cells connected in parallel.

I-V Characteristic curve

0,6

Current (A)

0,5

0,4
2 cells in parallel

0,3

4 Cells in parallel

6 Cells in parallel

0,2

8 Cells in parallel
0,1

0
0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

Voltage (V)
Figure 4.I-V Characteristic curves for different solar cell parallel distributions (arrangement).

P-V Characteristic Curves

160
140

Power(mW)

120
100
2 Parallel Cells

80

4 Parallel Cells

60

6 Parallel Cells

40

8 Parallel Cells

20
0
0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

Voltage (V)
Figure 5.P-V Characteristic curves for different solar cell parallel distributions (arrangement).

As a power increase was observed in the figure 4, in the P-V curves could be verified.
Higher maximum power could be obtained with lesser voltages. Although this setup
keeps the voltage constant in a low level, higher currents could be achieved, increasing
distribution (ohmic) losses.

3.2 Basic Circuits: Series Connection.

The figure 6 shows the I-V characteristics of 2, 4, 6 and 8 solar cells connected in series.
As it is expected from the literature, the voltage of the system increases with an increasing
number of cells connected in series, starting from an open circuit voltage of 1.1 V for 2
cells (0.55 V per solar cell) in series up to a of nearly 4.4 V for 8 solar cells with the
same configuration. As it could be seen there is only and slightly change in the short circuit
current for the different connections from 0.048 A to 0.05 A respectively, it is due to the
fact that in a series system the current remains constant independent from the voltage of
the elements connected to this.

I-V Curve Solar Cells Series Connection

0,06

Current I (A)

0,05

0,04
0,03

0,02
0,01

0
0

0,5

1,5

2,5

3,5

4,5

Voltage (V)
2 Solar Cells

4 Solar Cells

6 Solar Cells

8 Solar Cells

Figure 6.I-V Characteristics for Solar cells series connection

The figure 7 displays the P-V characteristic curve for 2, 4, 6 and 8 solar cells connected
in series with the maximum power point (MPP) pointed with a marker. It is noticed that the
power of the system increases with an increasing number of solar cells connected in
series. The MPP is shifted to the right of the graph and the increase of power is mainly
due to an increase in voltage with each new cell connected, hence the current remains
almost constant. The maximum power output for 2 cells connected in series was about
37.5 mW, this value increases according to the number of cells in the system, up to a
value of about 150.7 mW for 8 solar cells in series.

P-V Curve Solar cells Series Connection

160
150,69
140

Power (mW)

120
109,24
100
80

73,61

60
40

37,48

20
0
0

0,5

1,5

2,5

3,5

4,5

Voltage (V)
2 sollar cells

4 Sollar Cells

6 Solar Cells

8 Solar Cells

Figure 7.Power output for solar cells in series connection

3.3 Basic Circuits: Shading Influence.

As part of the experiment, it was intended to show the shading behavior of a solar cell.
The figure 8 depicts the I-V Characteristic curves for 8 solar cells connected in series and
the same characteristics for the 8 solar cells with one of them shaded. As it could be
noticed, the shading strongly influences the power output of the system, due to a critical
decay in the short circuit current of the system, it is reduced nearly 5 times from 0.05 A to
0.008 A. The current is more sensitive to changes in series connections, in this case the
whole system takes the minimum current of all the solar cells connected to it, that is, the
current of the solar cell shaded. The voltage of the array is just slightly reduced and not
highly affected by the shading condition.

I -V C harac te ristic C urve C o ve red C e ll S e rie s

0,06

Current I (A)

0,05
0,04
0,03

0,02
0,01
0
0

0,5

1,5

2,5

3,5

4,5

Voltage (V)
One Cell covered

Cells Uncovered

Figure 8. I-V Characteristics for 8 Solar cells series with and without shading.

The figure 9 shows the difference between the I-V curves of the parallel setup uncovered
and the parallel setup with one cell covered. As displayed in the figure, the power is slightly
decreased under the presence of shadowing. If the result of this setup is compared to the
result of shadowing on series connected cells, the loss of power is considerably lower in
the parallel setup, due to the fact that in a parallel setup the shadowed cell is not dominant
in the behavior of the system and thus, assuming a fully covered cell, the power delivered
by the system is the same as if one cell is disconnected (Open circuit).

I-V Characteristic curves under shading

0,6

Current (A)

0,5
0,4
0,3

8 Parallel Cells Uncovered

0,2

8 Parallel Cells-1Cell
Covered

0,1
0
0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

Voltage (V)

Figure 9.I-V Characteristic curves of the 8-cells parallel setup under shading.

3.4 Incident Angle.

The aim of this procedure was to vary the angle of incidence of the light coming from the
halogen lamp on the system. The figure 10 displays the short circuit current against the
angle of inclination of the plate where the solar cells are connected. The 8 solar cells were
connected in parallel and the plate supporting them was tilted. It is expected to have a
maximum power output and a maximum current of a module when the sunlight reaches
the solar cells with an angle of 90, which is equivalent to 0 of inclination of the plate.
As it could be noticed, the short circuit current decays with an increasing angle of
inclination of the plate (decreasing angle of incidence). From the theory it is expected to
have a lower current output with lower angle of incidence. It could be explained because
the direct irradiation on the cells is reduced when the angle of incidence decreases, hence
the short circuit current, which is proportional to the irradiation will also drop.

Short circuit current vs angle

Short circuit current Isc (A)

0,6

0,5
0,4

0,3
Isc (A)
0,2

0,1
0

20

40

60

80

100

Inclination Angle of the plate (degrees)

Figure 10.Comparison of short circuit current against inclination angle.

3.5 Temperature Properties.

As it is shown in the figure 11, the Cells voltage is clearly dependent on the temperature
(from 0.45 V to 0.6 V) while the current is not so affected by the change of temperature
(from 0.060 A to 0.064 A). The Maximum power point was only shifted on the Voltage
component (P=I*V). A graph of the P-V characteristic curves is shown in the figure 12.

10

I-V Characteristic Curves( Temperature Dependency)

0,08
10C

0,07

20C

Current (A)

0,06

15C
25C

0,05

30C
35C

0,04

40C
0,03

45C
50C

0,02

55C
0,01

60C

65C

0
0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

70C

0,7

Voltage (V)
Figure 11.I-V Characteristic Curves for variations on cells temperature.

P-V Characteristic Curves (Temperature Dependency)

30

Power (mW)

25
10C

20

20C
30C

15

40C
10

50C
60C

70C

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

Voltage (V)
Figure 12.P-V Characteristic Curves from a single solar cell under changes of temperature.

11

It can be observed from the figure 13 that the maximum power point could be
approximated as a linear function of the temperature. From the results of the tests
measurements, several graphs could be drawn to show the temperature dependency of
the power, voltage and current. This charts are displayed in the figures 13, 14 and 15, and
the values were tabulated in the table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of a Cell for temperature changes

Temp (C)
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70

Voc (V)
0,595
0,5775
0,5675
0,555
0,545
0,5375
0,5275
0,5125
0,4975
0,4875
0,48
0,465
0,4525

Isc (A) Pmax (mW)

0,0639
23,895
0,0624
22,44
0,0604
21,371
0,0603
20,91
0,0613
20,46
0,0608
19,92
0,0619
19,46
0,0625
19,09
0,0623
18,15
0,0634
17,25
0,0638
17,08
0,0634
16,14
0,0638
15,65

Pmax Temperature dependency

30

Power (mW)

25
20
15
y = -0,1259x + 24,406
10
5
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Temperature (C)
Figure 13. Graph of the temperature dependency of the maximum power point.

12

Isc Temperature dependency

0,0645
0,064

Current(A)

0,0635
0,063
0,0625
y = 3E-05x + 0,061

0,062
0,0615

0,061
0,0605
0,06
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Temperature (C)
Figure 14.Graph of the temperature dependency of the shot circuit current.

Voc Temperature dependency

0,7
0,6

Voltage(V)

0,5

0,4

y = -0,0023x + 0,6149

0,3
0,2

0,1
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Temperature (C)

Figure 15.Graph of the temperature dependency of the open circuit voltage.

13

Due to the fact that most of this variables are linear dependent on the temperature, the
typical temperature coefficients for each variable could be computed. Linear trendlines
were used to achieve a linear function that approximates the behavior of the variables.
From this trendlines equations, the Temperature coefficients were approximated as
follows:

= 0,1259

= 0,0023

= 3,0 105

14