Photovoltaic Systems Engineering

(Winter 2017)

Dr. Walid Atef Omran

Today’s Lecture

 Solar time and local time

 Measurement of irradiance

 Irradiance on a tilted surface

 Estimation of Average Radiation

 Semiconductors
 Doping of Semiconductors
 Energy of a Photon
 Absorption of Light
 Generation and Recombination
2
Solar Time and Clock Time
 Solar time can be calculated from the local Clock time by the
following relation where the positive sign is for the locations west
of the Prime Meridian:

Solar Time (ST) = Clock Time (CT) ± 4(minute/degree)×

[Standard Meridian – Local Longitude]o + E (minute)

where: E (minute) = 9.87 sin 2B – 7.53 cos B – 1.5 sin B

𝑜
360
𝐵 = (𝑛 − 81)
365
(Don’t memorize)

3
Sunrise and Sunset
 The approximate sunrise and sunset hours angle at a certain
location can be obtained by:

𝐻𝑆𝑅 = cos −1 (− tan 𝐿 tan 𝛿) (Don’t memorize)

HSR is positive for sunrise and negative for sunset

 The approximate sunrise and sunset times are obtained by:

𝐻𝑆𝑅
𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 12: 00 − o
15 /hr
(Don’t memorize)

4
Example L2-1
Find the local clock time for solar noon in a location with longitude
71.1oW and a local time meridian of 75o on July 1st.

5
Sun Path Diagrams
 Sun path diagrams is a relation between the solar azimuth and altitude at
each hour of each month of the year at a location with a specific latitude.

 Thus, sun path diagrams can provide information about the location of
the sun at a certain site at any time of the year.

 These diagrams are also used to predict shading patterns of objects that
can affect the PV panels installed at the site.

 To achieve this task, the altitude and the azimuth angle of the object has
to be measured (a number of measurement tools are available on the market).

6
Sun Path Diagrams

Sun path diagram at a location with Latitude 40 oN

7
Sun Path Diagrams

Sun path diagram at a location with Latitude 40 oN showing shading patterns

8
Sun Path Diagrams
 In this example, the site receives full sun all day long from
February through October. From November through January, the
trees cause about one hour’s worth of sun to be lost from around
8:30 A.M. to 9:30 A.M., and the small building shades the site
after about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

9
Measurement of Irradiance
 The total irradiance that reaches a horizontal surface on the earth is
called the global irradiance, Gg.

 The global irradiance is composed of two components: 1) beam (direct)

irradiance, Gb, that directly reaches the horizontal surface without being
scattered by the atmosphere and; 2) diffuse irradiance, Gd, that reaches
the horizontal surface after being scattered.
Gg =Gb + Gd

Beam and diffuse irradiance

on a horizontal surface
10
Measurement of Irradiance
 Weather stations usually measure the global horizontal irradiance by a
pyranometer placed horizontally at the required location. To measure the
diffuse irradiance, a shading ball or ring can be used to permanently
shade the pyranometer.

 On the other hand, a pyrheliometer is used to measure the beam normal

irradiance, Gbn, which is the irradiance received by a surface that is
perpendicular to the sun rays. Accordingly, the beam irradiance on the
horizontal surface can be calculated.

11
Measurement of Irradiance

Pyranometer (left top)

Pyranometer with shading ball (right)
Two-axis tracked Pyrheliometer (left bottom)
12
Measurement of Irradiance

Global irradiance on sunny day and a cloudy day

13
Irradiance on a Tilted Surface
 Studying the irradiance that reaches a tilted surface is very important for
PV systems because the PV panels are always tilted by a certain angle to
increase their production of electric energy.

 The tilt angle of fixed PV panels with respect to the horizontal surface
of the earth is calculated for each specific site; however, it can be
roughly set within ±15o of the site latitude.

 The tilt angle can be adjusted manually twice a year or four times a year
to increase the energy production from the PV system.

 The PV panels can be motorized to track the sun to maximize the

production of energy, however, this highly increases the cost.
14
Irradiance on a Tilted Surface
 The global irradiance on a tilted surface, Ggt , is composed of three
components:
1) Beam irradiance, Gbt , which directly reaches the surface and is the
most effective component for generating electricity.
2) Diffuse irradiance, Gdt , which reaches the surface after being
scattered by clouds.
3) Reflected irradiance (Albedo), Grt ,
which is reflected from the ground
and is effective only if the surface is
tilted.
Ggt = Gbt + Gdt + Grt
Components of
irradiance on a tilted surface
15
Estimation of the Irradiance
Components on a Tilted Surface
 To calculate the three irradiance components on a tilted surface, Gbt , Gdt
and Grt , on a clear day, the following steps can be used:
1) Measurement of the beam normal irradiance, Gbn, reaching a surface
on the earth that is placed normal to the sun rays using a pyrehliometer
or estimating its value by:
𝐺𝑏𝑛 = 𝐴𝑒 −𝑘𝑚 (Don’t memorize)

where A is a factor called the apparent solar irradiance (W/m2)

k is a dimensionless factor called the optical depth
m is the air mass ratio
Note: A and k vary during the year due to seasonal changes in the dust
and water vapor content of the atmosphere and because of the changing
earth-sun distance. They are available in tables for different locations. 16
Estimation of the Irradiance
Components on a Tilted Surface
2) Calculation of the beam irradiance on the tilted surface:

𝐺𝑏𝑡 = 𝐺𝑏𝑛 cos 𝜃 (Don’t memorize)

where θ is the angle of incidence

3) Estimation of the diffuse irradiance on the tilted surface:

𝐺𝑑𝑡 = 0.5 𝐶 𝐺𝑏𝑛 1 + cos 𝛴 (Don’t memorize)

where C is a sky diffuse factor that varies depending on the time of the year
and the location
Note: The diffuse irradiance in the presence of clouds can be
estimated by complex models that have accuracy dependent on the
location under study.
17
Estimation of the Irradiance
Components on a Tilted Surface
4) Calculation of the reflected irradiance (albedo) on the tilted surface:

𝐺𝑟𝑡 = 0.5 𝑟 𝐺𝑏𝑛 𝐶 + sin 𝛽 1 − cos 𝛴 (Don’t memorize)

where r is the ground reflectance constant that depends on the type

of ground surrounding the tilted surface
Gg is the global irradiance on a horizontal surface

5) Calculation of the global irradiance on the tilted surface:

Ggt = Gbt + Gdt + Grt

18
Example L2-2
For a location with latitude of 33.7o on May 21, assume that the apparent
solar irradiance is 1104 W/m2, the optical depth is 0.197, the total sky
diffuse factor is 0.121 and the reflectance of the ground is 0.2.

1) Find the beam irradiance on a surface normal to the sun’s rays at solar
noon.

2) Find the global irradiance at solar noon on a collector that faces 20o
toward the southeast if it is tipped up at a 52o angle.

19
Sky Clearness Index
 The sky clearness index KT is the ratio of the global radiation (Wh/m2)
on a horizontal surface to the corresponding extraterrestrial radiation.

 It is usually given as a monthly average daily value (KT-D) which

represents the average daily global horizontal radiation for each month
(Rg-D) to the average daily extraterrestrial radiation (Ro-D).
𝑅𝑔−𝐷
𝐾𝑇−𝐷 =
𝑅𝑜−𝐷

 It can be also given as an annual average daily value or as a monthly

average hourly value.

20
Estimation of Monthly Average Daily
Radiation on a Horizontal Surface
 The daily extraterrestrial radiation (Ro) is given by:

24
𝑅𝑜 = 𝐺𝑜 𝐻𝑆𝑅 sin 𝐿 sin 𝛿 + cos 𝐿 cos 𝛿 sin 𝐻𝑆𝑅
𝜋
(Don’t memorize)
where: Go (W/m2)
is the extraterrestrial irradiance
HSR is the sunrise hour angle (degree)
L is the latitude of the location (degree)
δ is the declination angle (degree)

 The monthly average daily extraterrestrial radiation (Ro-D) can be

obtained by calculating Ro on a specific day of each month (17/1, 16/2,
16/3, 15/4, 15/5, 11/6, 17/7, 16/8, 15/9, 15/10, 14/11, 10/12).
21
Estimation of Monthly Average Daily
Radiation on a Horizontal Surface
 The monthly average daily global horizontal radiation is:

𝑅𝑔−𝐷 = 𝐾𝑇−𝐷 × 𝑅𝑜−𝐷

 The monthly average daily diffuse horizontal radiation can be obtained by:

2 3
𝑅𝑑−𝐷 = 𝑅𝑔−𝐷 1.39 − 4.027𝐾𝑇−𝐷 + 5.531𝐾𝑇−𝐷 − 3.108𝐾𝑇−𝐷

(Don’t memorize)
 The monthly average daily beam horizontal radiation is calculated by:

𝑅𝑏−𝐷 = 𝑅𝑔−𝐷 − 𝑅𝑑−𝐷

22
Estimation of Monthly Average Daily
Radiation on a Tilted Surface
 The monthly average daily global irradiance on a tilted surface is:
1 + cos Σ 1 − cos Σ
𝑅𝑔𝑡−𝐷 = 𝑅𝑏−𝐷 𝑟𝑏−𝐷 + 𝑅𝑑−𝐷 + 𝑅𝑔−𝐷 𝑟
2 2
(Don’t memorize)
rb-D is the average beam tilt factor and r is the ground reflectance.
rb-D is given by:
cos 𝐿 − Σ cos 𝛿 sin 𝐻𝑆𝑅𝐶 + 𝐻𝑆𝑅𝐶 sin 𝐿 − Σ sin 𝛿
𝑟𝑏−𝐷 =
cos 𝐿 cos 𝛿 sin 𝐻𝑆𝑅 + 𝐻𝑆𝑅 sin 𝐿 sin 𝛿
(Don’t memorize)
HSRC is the moment when the sun first strikes the collector
◦
𝐻𝑆𝑅𝐶 = min cos −1 − tan 𝐿 tan 𝛿 , cos −1 (− tan 𝐿 − Σ tan 𝛿
(Don’t memorize) 23
Physics of Silicon PV Cells

24
Semiconductors
 Photovoltaic cells, also called solar cells, use semiconductor materials to
convert sunlight into electricity.

 Pure crystalline silicon is the starting point for most of PV cells, which
is an element that belongs to Group IV in the periodic table.

 Boron from Group III and phosphorus from Group V are added to
silicon to make silicon PV cells.

 Also, gallium and arsenic are used in GaAs solar cells, while cadmium
and tellurium are used in CdTe cells.

 In general, the electrical properties of semiconductors can be explained

using two models, the bond and the band models. 25
Semiconductors

26
The Bond Model
 The bond model uses the covalent bonds joining the silicon atoms to
describe semiconductor behavior.

 Silicon has 14 protons in its nucleus, and 14 orbital electrons with its
outer orbit containing 4 valence electrons.

 In pure crystalline silicon, each atom forms covalent bonds with 4

adjacent atoms in a three-dimensional tetrahedral pattern.

 For convenience, this pattern is drawn as a two-dimensional pattern.

27
The Bond Model

Representation of a Silicon atom

Covalent bonds between electrons of Silicon atoms

28
The Bond Model
 At absolute zero temperature, silicon is a perfect electrical insulator.
There are no free electrons as in the case of insulators.

 At high temperatures (or if energy is gained by photons), some bonds

are broken and conduction can occur by two processes:
1. Electrons from broken bonds are free to move (movement of
electrons).
2. Electrons from neighboring bonds can also move into the ‘hole’
created in the broken bond (movement of holes).

 As the temperature increases, more electrons become free, and thus,

conductivity increases. However, the conductivity of pure silicon at
normal temperatures is still very low.
29
The Band Model
 Quantum theory describes the differences between conductors (metals)
and semiconductors (e.g., silicon) and insulators using energy-band
diagrams.

 Electrons have energies that must fit within certain allowable energy
bands. The top energy band is called the conduction band, and the
electrons within this region that contribute to current flow.

 Conduction band for metals is partially filled, but for empty

semiconductors at absolute zero temperature. At room temperature, only
about one out of 1010 electrons in silicon exists in the conduction band.

 The gaps between allowable energy bands are called forbidden bands.
30
The Band Model

Energy bands for metals and semiconductors

 The energy that an electron must acquire to jump across the forbidden
band to the conduction band is called the band-gap energy, Eg.

 The unit for band-gap energy is electron-volts (eV), where one electron-
volt is the energy that an electron acquires when its voltage is increased
by 1 V (1 eV = 1.6 × 10−19 J).
31
The Band Model
 The band-gap energy for silicon is 1.12 eV, which means an electron
needs to acquire that much energy to free itself from the electrostatic
force that ties it to its own nucleus and jump into the conduction band.

An electron gains enough energy to jump

across the forbidden band
32
The Band Model

33
Doping of Semiconductors
 Semiconductors are unique in that the carrier concentrations can be
changed by doping.

 In order to increase the conductivity of intrinsic semiconductors,

controlled quantities of specific impurity ions are added to the intrinsic
semiconductor to produce doped (extrinsic) semiconductors.

 Doping introduces allowed energy states into the forbidden region in the
band gap.

 In doped material, there is always more of one type of carrier than the
other. The type of carrier with the higher concentration is called a
"majority carrier", while the lower concentration carrier is called a
"minority carrier." 34
Doping of Semiconductors

Schematic of a silicon crystal lattice doped with impurities to produce

n-type and p-type semiconductor material

35
Doping of Semiconductors
 Atoms with one more valence electron than silicon are used to produce
"n-type" semiconductor material. These n-type materials are group V
elements in the periodic table, and thus their atoms have 5 valence
electrons that can form covalent bonds with the 4 valence electrons that
silicon atoms have. Because only 4 valence electrons are needed from
each atom to form the covalent bonds around the silicon atoms, the
extra valence electron present is free to participate in conduction.
Therefore, more electrons are added to the conduction band and hence
increases the number of electrons present in the material.

36
Doping of Semiconductors
 Atoms with one less valence electron result in "p-type" material.
These p-type materials are group III elements in the periodic table.
Therefore, p-type material has only 3 valence electrons with which to
interact with silicon atoms. The net result is a hole, as not enough
electrons are present to form the 4 covalent bonds surrounding the
atoms. In p-type material, the number of electrons trapped in bonds is
higher, thus effectively increasing the number of holes.

37
Doping of Semiconductors

Schematic of a silicon crystal lattice doped with impurities to produce

n-type and p-type semiconductor material

38
Generation of Free Carriers
 In order for a carrier (an electron) to move from one band to another,
there are several requirements that should be satisfied:

 There must be an electron in the valence band or at another low energy

level.

 There must be an unoccupied space to which the electron can move.

 The electron must gain enough energy to move from one band to
another

 Energy can come from thermal energy or from photons (our focus is on
the generation due to photons).
39
Energy of a Photon
 Photons are quantum mechanical particles that describe electromagnetic
radiation.

 A photon can be characterized by its wavelength, λ (m), frequency, υ

(Hz), as well as its energy, Eph (J):

ℎ𝑐
𝐸𝑝ℎ = ℎ𝜐 =
𝜆

𝑐 = 𝜐𝜆

where c is the speed of light = 3×108 m/s

h is Plank’s constant = 6.626 × 10−34 J.s
40
Energy of a Photon
 The photon flux is defined as the number of photons per second per unit
area:
# of photons
𝛷=
sec . m2

 The photon flux is important in determining the number of electrons

which are generated, and hence the current produced from a solar cell.

 The photon flux does not give information about the energy (or
wavelength) of the photons, thus, the energy or wavelength of the
photons in the light source must also be specified.

41
Energy of a Photon
 The power density of photons having a specific wavelength is the
product of the photon flux and the energy of a single photon:
ℎ𝑐
𝑃𝐷 = 𝛷 𝐸𝑝ℎ = 𝛷 (W/m2 )
𝜆

 The spectral irradiance as a function of photon wavelength (or energy),

denoted by F, is the most common way of characterizing a light source.
It gives the power density at a particular wavelength.
1
𝐹𝜆 = 𝛷 𝐸𝑝ℎ (W/m2 /m )
𝜆

42
Example L2-3
Consider a monochromatic beam of light with a power density of 1 W/m2
and a wavelength of 800 nm, calculate:
a) the photon energy of the photons in the beam
b) the frequency of the light wave
c) the number of photons provided by the beam in one second per unit
area.

43
Absorption of Light
 The energy of photons has a major impact on how the photon interacts
with the semiconductor to generate free carriers:
 If Eph < Eg, the photon interacts only weakly with the semiconductor,
passing through it as if it were transparent and no free carriers will be
generated.
 If Eph = Eg, the photon just enough energy to create an electron hole
pair and is efficiently absorbed.

 If Eph > Eg, the photon with energy greater than the band gap is
strongly absorbed. However, for photovoltaic applications, the photon
energy greater than the band gap is wasted as electrons
quickly thermalize back down to the conduction band edges.
44
Absorption of Light

A schematic diagram showing the impact of photon energy

on the generation of free carriers
45
Example L2-4
a) Sketch the relation between the photon energy and the wavelength
of the photon
b) If Silicon has a band gap energy of 1.12 eV; show on the graph the
maximum wavelength of a photon that can create hole–electron
pairs in silicon.

46
Impact of Band-Gap Energy on
Photovoltaic Efficiency
 There is a trade-off between choosing a photovoltaic material that has a
small band gap versus one with a large band gap.

 With a smaller band gap, more solar photons have the energy needed to
excite electrons. However, a small band gap means that more photons
have surplus energy above the threshold needed to create hole–electron
pairs, which wastes their potential but the current increases.

 Large band-gap means that fewer photons have enough energy to create
the current carrying electrons and holes, which limits the current that
can be generated. On the other hand, a high band gap gives those
charges a higher voltage with less leftover surplus energy.
47
Impact of Band-Gap Energy on
Photovoltaic Efficiency
 In other words, low band gap gives more current with less voltage while
high band gap results in less current and higher voltage.

 Since power is the product of current and voltage, there must be a

suitable value of the band gap (usually between 1.2 eV and 1.8 eV)
which will result in the highest power and efficiency.

48
Absorption Coefficient
 The absorption coefficient, α, gives an indication about how far into a
material light of a particular wavelength can penetrate before it is
absorbed.

 Thus, in a material with a low absorption coefficient, light is poorly

absorbed and if the material is thin enough, it will appear transparent to
that wavelength.

 The absorption coefficient depends on the material and on the

wavelength of light which is being absorbed.

49
Absorption Coefficient

Absorption coefficient of some semiconductor materials

50
Absorption Depth
 The absorption depth gives the distance into the material at which the
light drops to about 36% of its original intensity, or alternately has
dropped by a factor of 1/e.

 The absorption depth is given by the inverse of the absorption

coefficient, or α-1.

 Since high energy light (short wavelength), such as blue light, has a
large absorption coefficient, it is absorbed in a short distance of the
surface (within a few microns in silicon solar cells), while red light
(lower energy, longer wavelength) is absorbed less strongly. Even after
a few hundred microns, not all red light is absorbed in silicon.
51
Absorption Depth

52
Generation of Electron-Hole Pairs
 When photons are absorbed by the semiconductor material, electron-
hole pairs are generated (each photon generates one pair).

 The generation rate gives the number of electron-hole pairs generated per
unit volume at each point in the semiconductor due to the absorption of
photons with a specific wavelength. This is given by:

𝐺𝑒−ℎ = 𝛼 𝛷 e−𝛼𝑥

where Φ is the photon flux at the surface (with a specific wavelength), α

is the absorption coefficient, and x is the distance from the surface of
the semiconductor.
53
Example L2-5
Three beams of light with wavelengths of 400nm, 500nm and 800nm are
directed on a Silicon cell of thickness 10 mm such that the photon flux for
each wavelength is approximately 3×1012 photon/m2/s. The absorption
coefficient of the cell for each wavelength is 9.52×104cm-1, 1.11×104cm-1
and 8.5×102cm-1, respectively.
a) Calculate the absorption depth for each wavelength.
b) Estimate the rate of generation of electron hole pairs at depth 0.7μm.

54
Recombination of Electron- Hole Pairs

 Electrons and holes recombine again if they are not swept away from
each other.

 There are several reasons for recombination as will be discussed later.

 When the electron recombine with a hole, energy is released as a photon

or heat.

55
Recombination of Electron- Hole Pairs

Generation of an electron-hole pair Recombination of an electron-hole pair

due to absorption of a photon and emission of a photon

56
Announcement
 Quiz 1 will be held next Thursday, 12th of October at 10:30 am.

 The quiz will cover all material till today’s lecture.

 Assignment 1 is available on the intranet and is due on Thursday

12th of October at 10:30 am.

57