Solar Cell Parameters

A solar cell converts sunlight into electricity. How nicely a solar cell does this conversion is
determined by the parameters of the solar cell and in this section, we will discuss each of
them.
The list of solar cell parameters are as following:
Short Circuit Current (Isc)
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)
Maximum Powerpoint
Current at maximum power point (Im)
Voltage at maximum power point (Vm)
Fill Factor (FF)
Efficiency (η)
These parameters can be best understood by Current-Voltage curve (I-V curve) of the solar
cell
In the plot normally current is plotted in Y-axis and voltage is plotted in the X-axis. Now you
all can see in the plot the various representations of parameters. Now we will define and
discuss the importance of each of the parameters.

1. Short Circuit Current: Coming to the first parameter is the short circuit current which is
defined as the maximum current a solar cell can produce. So, it is obvious that higher the
short circuit, better is the solar cell. It is measured in Ampere (A) or milli-ampere (mA). Now

www.ggsy.in [email protected]
 the value of this maximum current depends on cell technology, cell area, amount of solar
radiation falling on cell, angle of placing of cell etc. Sometimes instead of Isc the term
current density (J) is used which is obtained by dividing Isc by the area of the solar cell.
Jsc = Isc/A
2. Open Circuit Voltage: It is the maximum voltage that a solar cell can produce. The higher
the value, the better is the cell. It is measured in Volts (V) or millivolts (mV). The value of
maximum Voc may depend upon cell technology and operating temperature.
3. Maximum power point: It is the maximum power (Wp) that a solar cell can produce under
standard test conditions. The higher the Pm, the better is the cell. It is measured in watt
(W). Since it is maximum power or peak power, it is sometimes also referred to as Wpeak or
Wp. A solar cell can operate at many current and voltage combinations. But a solar cell will
produce maximum power only when operating at certain current and voltage. This
maximum power point is denoted as Pm. Normally, the maximum power point for a I-V
curve of solar cells occur at the knee or bend of the curve.
In terms of expression it is given as:
Pm or Pmax = Im x Vm

4. Current at maximum power point (Im): This is the current which solar cell will produce
when operating at the maximum power point. The Im will always be lower than Isc. It is
given in terms of an ampere (A) or milli-ampere (mA).
5. The voltage at maximum power point (Vm): This is the voltage which solar cell will
produce when operating at a maximum power point. Vm will always be lower than Voc. It is
given in terms of a volt (V) or millivolt (mV).
6. Fill factor which is defined as the ratio of the areas covered by Im-Vm rectangle with the
area covered by Isc-Voc rectangle (both shown by dotted line in the figure),whose equation
is given below. It indicates the squareness of I-V curve. The higher the FF, the better is the
cell. FF of a cell is given in terms of percentage (%). A cell with square I-V curve is a better
cell.
FF = Im x Vm / Iscx Voc
Or FF = Pm / Iscx Voc
Pm or Pmax = Im x Vm
7. Efficiency (η): The efficiency of a solar cell is defined as the maximum output power
divided by the input power. The efficiency of a cell is given in terms of percentage, which
means that this percentage of input power is converted into electrical power. For standard
test conditions the input solar radiation is 1000 W/m2, which is nothing but solar radiation
per unit area. So, for total input solar radiation, we must multiply this with the total cell
area.

www.ggsy.in [email protected]
 Efficiency or η (etta) = Pm / 1000 x A
Where Pm = Isc x Voc x FF
A = Area of the solar cell
Now let us see a typical image of solar cell parameters written on the back of a commercial
solar panel and try to understand them all.

Now it may fascinate you that apart from solar cell parameters in real life situations there
are several common factors that affect the power generated by solar cells. And we will
discuss these briefly.
Now, in general, there are five common factors that affect the power generated by solar
cells. Namely:
1. The conversion efficiency (η)
2. The amount of incident light (Pin)
3. The solar cell area (A)
4. The angle at which daylight falls (θ), and
5. The operating temperature (T)
Let us focus on each of the factors and see how they affect the power output of a solar cell.
We know that the ratio of electrical energy generated to the input light energy is known as
the conversion efficiency of the solar cell. You must remember that the value of conversion
efficiency is constant or fixed for a given solar cell based on material and the manufacturing
process of the solar cell.

www.ggsy.in [email protected]
 For a given input power, the value of the output power can be directly determined by the
value of solar cell conversion efficiency and solar cell area.
Mathematically:
Pout = Pin x η x A
Where, η = Efficiency in percentage
Pout = Output power in watt (W)
Pin = light input power per unit area in W/m2
A = Solar cell area in m2
Thus, it can be concluded that a more efficient solar cell produces more power from the
same area.
Coming to the second factor that is the amount of incident light or total input energy we can
remember that a large amount of high intensity of light falling on the solar cell means a high
amount of power will be generated and vice versa. Similarly, a large solar cell area means it
will collect more amount of light energy and produce more power. In addition to this, you
must also remember that the angle at which the light falls on the solar panel also affect the
net power output and various experiments confirm that light falling perpendicular to solar
cell gives maximum output power.
Now the operating temperature of solar cell also affects the net output voltage, efficiency
and power. It has been studied that the rise of temperature from a standard operating
condition that is 25 °C, the net output voltage, power output and thus efficiency decreases.
Now experiments showed that for a typical silicon solar cell the output voltage decreases by
2.3 mV per degree centigrade increase in temperature.
So this unit briefed you about the various solar cell parameters and the factors that affect
the power output of the solar cell. In future, while coming across any purchase and
installation of the solar cell, we should consider these important points to take a judicious
decision.

www.ggsy.in [email protected]