Solar Cell Assignment
Solar Cell Assignment
ND (m )
2*1022
N Region
Lp (m)
11.4*10-5
Dp (m /s)
0.00125
NA (m- )
2*1023
P Region
Ln (m)
4.1*10-4
Dn (m2/s)
.00335
(d) Assuming each photon above the band gap produces a carrier, what is the light current density
through the cell?
(e) What is the total current density through the cell when it is forward biased with a voltage of
0.66 V?
(f) Make a plot of the current density as a function of voltage for this cell when it is illuminated.
(g) What is the maximum power density (W/cm2) for this cell?
(h) What is the efficiency for this cell?
(i) What is the open circuit voltage Voc for this cell under illumination?
Problem 2 [Stanford]
An ideal (Rsh = 1, Rs = 0) Si p-n junction solar cell with the following
properties:
N Region
P Region
ND (m-3)
Lp (m)
p s
NA (m-3)
n (s)
Dn (m2/s)
1022
11.4*10-5
5*10-7
5*1024
10-7
.00255
2
is exposed to the standard AM1.5 solar spectrum with an intensity of 900 W/m
corresponding to a solar ux of photons with energy above the bandgap of 2.5*1017 cm-2s-1.
The temperature of the device is held at 300 K.
(a) Find the light-induced current density JL Assume that a carrier is excited for each incident
photon with energy greater than the bandgap.
(b) Find the minority carrier diffusion lengths Ln and Lp.
(c) Find the reverse saturation current density Js.
(d) Find the open circuit voltage Voc.
(e) Again assuming ideal diode behavior, and the efficiency of this solar cell.
(f) What is the cell efficiency if we increase the solar ux by a factor of 100?
Problem 3
The power produced by the cell is given by the equation below:
Where, Va= output voltage, I = output current, Vt= kT/q = 0.0256 mV, Iph = Light generated
current
Using the above equation derive that the formula for the voltage at maximum power point is
given by the iterative formula
I m I ph * (1
Vt
)
Vm
The width of highly doped N-type emitter is 5um, the width of P-doped base is 55um and the
width of the depletion region is 5um. When illuminated with a light source, the collection
probability in the emitter is 0.8 and the probability in quasi-neutral base is around 0.6. The optical
absorption coefficient of the solar cell can be approximated through figure 1.
Answer the following (assume the reflectivity is negligible);
a. Formulate the equation for the generation rate of the carriers with in the device
b. Calculate the photo generated current due to the absorption of photons from
200nm to 600 nm
600nm to 900nm
c. From your calculations, can you suggest any design improvement for the solar cell under
investigation?