Urvashi Parmar

05-0309-2015
Roll No. :- 28
■ Introduction
■ Physics of PV cell
■ Photovoltaic Generation
■ PV Array components
■ Advantages
■ Disadvantages
■ Application
■ References
 Introduction
• The semiconductor device that transforms solar light into electrical energy is
termed as ‘Photovoltaic cell’ or PV cell, and the phenomenon is named as
‘Photovoltaic effect’.
OR

• Photovoltaic conversion is the direct

conversion of sunlight into electricity
without any heat engine to interfere.

Source: Survey of Energy Resources 2007, World Energy Council.

 Physics of PV Cell
■ In semiconductor materials due to
photoelectric effect, photons of light
are absorb & it release free electrons
■ The diffusion of free electron from N to
P region & holes from P to N region,
the current will start flowing in the
circuit
■ The semiconductor material acts like a
diode it means there is a voltage
across it
 Photovoltaic Generation
PV cell technologies are usually classified into three generations,
depending on the basic material used

1. Crystalline Silicon
2. Thin Film
3. Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) and Organic Material
 1. Crystalline Silicon
■ Silicon is widely used for PV
applications.
■ It is commonly used in the PV
industry, wafer-based C-Si PV cells
and modules dominate the current
market.
■ The efficiency of crystalline silicon
modules ranges from 14% to 19%.
 2. Thin Film

■ It has lower cost electricity than C-Si

wafer based solar cells.
■ It has flexible and light weight
structures
■ Operating efficiency about 6%
 3. Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) and Organic Material
Concentrated photovoltaic Organic Material
■ It is the hybridization of the direct ■ They are composed of organic or polymer
and the indirect solar power materials
systems ■ They are inexpensive, but not very efficient
■ Organic PV module efficiencies are now in the
range 4% to 5% for commercial systems
 PV Array Components
A PV System typically consists of 3 basic
components.

• PV cells - Electricity is generated by PV

cells, the smallest unit of a PV system
• Modules - PV cells are wired together to
form modules which are usually a
sealed, unit of convenient size for
handling.
• Arrays – Groups of panels make up an
array.
To size a solar PV array, cells are assembled in form of series-parallel
configuration for requisite energy
 PV System Components
The components of a solar photovoltaic system are:
1. Solar Module -- Which converts sunlight directly into DC electricity.
2. Solar Charge Controller --
– It regulates voltage and current from solar arrays,
– charges the battery,
– prevents battery from overcharging and also performs controlled over
discharges.
3. Battery -- Which stores current electricity produced from solar arrays for use when
sunlight is not available.
4. Inverter -- It converts DC power into AC power.
5. Lightning protection --
― It prevents electrical equipment from damage caused by lightning or
induction of high voltage surge.
 Utility Grid

Blocking
PV Solar Diode Power Inverter/
Array conditioner converter

Battery Local Load

Storage

Fig. Block Diagram of a typical photovoltaic system

 Key advantages of PV cell
■ Direct use of heat of sunlight, resulting from the absorption of solar radiation
■ Direct conversion of light to electricity through a simple solid-state device
■ Absence of moving parts
■ Ability to function unattended for long periods as evident from space program
■ Voltages and power levels can be achieved by simple integration
■ Low maintenance cost
■ Long effective life and high reliability
■ Rapid responses in output to input radiation changes
■ High power handling capabilities from microwatt to kilowatt and even megawatt
■ High power to weight ratio, which is more important for space applications
■ Decentralized/dispersed power; thus the problem of power distribution by wires could be
eliminated by use of solar cells at the site where the power is required.
 Disadvantages
■ Initial cost is high
■ Unpredictability of solar energy or sunlight availability makes solar energy panels
less reliable ,so it is weather dependent
■ It require additional equipment like inverters , battery etc which makes it
expensive
■ They require relatively large areas
■ Its efficiency levels are relatively low (between 14%-25%) compared to the
efficiency levels of other renewable energy systems.
■ It has low maintenance or operating costs,but they are fragile and can be damaged
relatively easily; additional costs increase.
 Applications
■ Building integrated systems
■ Desalination plant
■ Space
■ Solar home systems
■ Pumps (water pump in irrigation)
■ Photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) collector technology
 References
■ Overview of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Cells
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
■ A Review on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Technology and its Efficiency
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287792329
■ Solar power generation by PV (photovoltaic) technology: A review by G.K. Singh
www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
■ Classification andcomparisonofmaximumpowerpointtrackingtechniques for
photovoltaicsystem:Areview by Ali RezaReisi ,MohammadHassanMoradi,ShahriarJamasb
www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
■ A review of solar photovoltaic technologies by Bhubaneswari Parida, S. Iniyanb,Ranko Goic
www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
Any Questions