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Properties of Solar Cell

This document discusses the key properties and manufacturing process of solar cells for generating electricity in satellites. It describes that solar cells are made from purified silicon and involve a 7-stage process: 1) purifying silicon; 2) making single crystal silicon; 3) making silicon wafers; 4) doping; 5) placing electrical contacts; 6) adding an anti-reflective coating; 7) encapsulating the cell. The document also outlines the structural, optical, and light-generating properties required for efficient solar cell function, including smooth silicon surfaces, low contact resistance, high light absorption, and current generation from separated electron-hole pairs.

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hafizuddinbahri97
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12 views

Properties of Solar Cell

This document discusses the key properties and manufacturing process of solar cells for generating electricity in satellites. It describes that solar cells are made from purified silicon and involve a 7-stage process: 1) purifying silicon; 2) making single crystal silicon; 3) making silicon wafers; 4) doping; 5) placing electrical contacts; 6) adding an anti-reflective coating; 7) encapsulating the cell. The document also outlines the structural, optical, and light-generating properties required for efficient solar cell function, including smooth silicon surfaces, low contact resistance, high light absorption, and current generation from separated electron-hole pairs.

Uploaded by

hafizuddinbahri97
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Properties For a Solar Cell

to Generate Electricity For a


Satellite

Muhammad Al Ariff Bin Abd


Latif
SSCP 4623 (Material Science)
Dr Rosnita Binti Muhammad
• Also known as Photovoltaic Cell
What is Solar • Electrical device (Light energy to Electricity)
Cell? • Cause by photovoltaic effect
• Form by photoelectric cell or
• The devices has electrical characteristics (V, I, R)
react when exposed to light

OPERATION OF PV CELL
Absorption of light

Separation of charge carriers

Separate extraction of carriers to


an external circuit
What are Solar • Made from silicon
Cell Made From? • To make a solar cell, there are
seven stages
• Materials found in Solar cell:
1. Monocrystalline cells
2. Polycrystalline Solar cells
3. Thin Film Solar cells
Stages 1: Purifying the Silicon

• SiO2 placed into electric arc furnace


• Carbon arc applied to release O2
• The products are CO2 and Molten Silicon (1% impurities)
• Silicon (99% purity) not purified even further used floating zero technique
• At one point, Si will be pure and the impure will removed

Stages 2: Making Single Crystal Silicon

• SC made from Si boules


• Si boules are polycrystalline structures that have atomic structure of single crystal
• Method used known as Czochralski Method
• Seed crystal of Si dipped into melted polycrystalline silicon
• The result will left all the impurities in the liquid and the ingot (Si boules)
completely pure
Stages 3: Making Silicon Wafer

• Si wafer from the boules are sliced individually (circular saw)


• Diamond saw best for slicing, that will produce a cut that is wide as the wafer
• 1 ½ of the Si lost from the boules to settle up the circular wafer
• More can be lost when the wafer is cut into rectangular or hexagonal shape (Used in
Solar Cell)
• Wafer are polished to removed saw marks (some industries are not removed it)
• To make sure the efficiency in absorbing light is high

Stages 4: Doping

• Process of adding impurities to the silicon wafer with phosphorous


• By using small particle accelerator to shoot the phosphorous into the ingot
• The ion speed is controls to achieve the possibility to penetrate the ingot
• But this process not fully accepted
• Traditional method was involved with introduction of small amount of boron
Stages 5: Placing Electrical Contact

• EC used to connect solar cell to each other and act as receiver of the produced current
• Also Contact need to super thin (Not block the Sunlight)
• Thin strips placed between the cells (tin-coated copper)

Stages 6: The Anti-Reflective Coating

• Pure Si is shining (35% reflect the sunlight)


• To reduce the reflect, anti-reflective coating (TiO2 and SiO2) is put into Si wafer
• The coating material is heated or sputtering
• High voltage knock the molecules off the material and deposit in into Si and then to the
Si opposite electrode

Stage 7: Encapsulating the Cell

• SC sealed into Si rubber then placed into Al frame that has a Mylar and glass
Structural of Silicon

Covalent Bond
that bind Si
with O2 Silicon atom

Oxygen atoms
Structural Properties of Solar Cell
• Silicon surface must sharp and smooth (Pyramid-
shaped surface)
• Curve and smooth shaped Si boundary for good
electrical contact and achieve a low contact resistance
Solar Cell Structure
There are a few steps in the operation of solar cell:

1. Generation of light generated carriers


2. Collection of the light generated carries to generate a current
3. Generation of a large voltage across the solar cell
4. Dissipation of power in the load and in parasitic resistances
Optical Properties of Solar Cell

• Typical stack of the active layer in a solar cell


• Must antireflection coating for minimize of reflection
losses
• Must high optical transparency with high electric
conductivity
• Band gap more than 3 eV or
• Low absorption coefficient (Si)
• At p layer, direct band gap (High absorption & low
material input
• If light not absorbed and reflect back to contact, it
should reflect back into absorber
• Back contact must a good electric contact and good
optical reflector
Light Generated Current
• Involves two processes key
• Process of absorption of incident photons to create electron hole pairs
• The collection of these carriers by the p-n junction
• IV curve of solar cell is the superposition of the IV curve of the solar cell diode in the
dark with the light generated current
• The light has effect of shifting the IV curve down to the fourth quadrant, power can be
extracted from the diode.
References
1. The renewable Energy Hub UK post in their site with title A consumer Guide to Solar Panels in
2019 at https://www.renewableenergyhub.co.uk/main/solar-panels/what-is-a-solar-cell-made-
up-of/

2. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia on Solar panels on spacecraft at


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_panels_on_spacecraft

3. PubChem at https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/24261#section=Analytic-Laboratory-
Methods

4. Retrieved from PV Education on Solar Cell System at


https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/design-of-silicon-cells/silicon-solar-cell-parameters

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