Student's Sheet

Printed: 02/10/2018 10:19:30 | P2410901

CHaracteristic curves of a solar cell (Item No.: P2410901)

Curricular Relevance

Topic: Subtopic: Experiment:

Area of Expertise: Education Level:
Electricity and Electric Current and Characteristic curves
Physics University
Magnetism Resistance of a solar cell

Difficulty Preparation Time Execution Time Recommended Group Size

Difficult 1 Hour 2 Hours 2 Students

Additional Requirements: Experiment Variations:

Keywords:

semi-conductor, p-n junction, energy-band diagram, Fermi characteristic energy level, diffusion potential, internal resistance, efficiency, photo-
conductive effect, acceptors, donors, valence band, conduction band

Overview

Short description
Principle
To measure the current-voltage characteristics of a solar cell at different light intensities, the distance between the light source
and the solar cell is varied. Moreover, the dependence of no-load voltage on temperature is determined.

Fig. 1: Experimental set-up of experiment P2410901.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
Printed: 02/10/2018 10:19:30 | P2410901

Equipment

Position No. Material Order No. Quantity

1 Solar battery, 4 cells, with cable and connectors 06752-22 1
2 Thermopile, Moll type 08479-00 1
3 Universal measuring amplifier 13626-93 1
4 Rheostat, 330 Ohm , 1.0A 06116-02 1
5 Ceramic lamp socket E27 06751-01 1
6 Filament lamp,220V/120W,w.refl. 06759-93 1
7 Hot/cold air blower, 1800 W 04030-93 1
8 Meter scale, demo. l=1000mm 03001-00 1
9 Tripod base PHYWE 02002-55 2
10 Barrel base PHYWE 02006-55 2
11 Support rod PHYWE,square,l 250mm 02025-55 1
12 Right angle clamp PHYWE 02040-55 2
13 Plate holder 02062-00 1
14 Universal clamp 37715-00 2
15 Bench clamp PHYWE 02010-00 2
16 Glass pane, 150x100x4mm, 2off 35010-10 1
17 Digital multimeter 2005 07129-00 2
18 Lab thermometer,-10..+100 °C 38056-00 1
19 Connecting cord, 32 A, 500 mm, red 07361-01 3
20 Connecting cord, 32 A, 500 mm, blue 07361-04 2

Tasks
1. Measure the short-circuit current and no-load voltage at different light intensities and plot the current-voltage
characteristic at different light intensities.
2. Estimate the dependence of no-load voltage and short-circuit current on temperature.
3. Plot the current-voltage characteristic under different operating conditions: cooling the equipment with a blower, no
cooling, shining the light through a glass plate.
4. Determine the characteristic curve when illuminating by sunlight.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
Printed: 02/10/2018 10:19:30 | P2410901

Set-up and procedure

The thermopile only measures the light of the lamp but the solar cell also detects the diffused light coming from reflections
on the bench top. Therefore, it is recommended to cover the bench with a black cloth or piece of black card to suppress
the diffused light.
The experimental set-up is as shown in Fig. 1. The glass plate is only needed for task 3.
Do the electrical connections as in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Circuit for measuring the current-voltage characteristic.

Task 1
The light intensity is varied by varying the distance between the light source and the solar cell. First of all, measure the light
intensity with the thermopile and amplifier with the equipment at different distances from the light source. (Note: the maximum
output voltage of the amplifier is 10 V). The inlet aperture marks the position of the thermopile. The distance between the lamp
and the thermopile should be at least 50 cm, since the angular aperture of the thermopile is only 20°.
To suppress the influence of the temperature on the characteristics of the solar cell, keep it at room temperature with the aid of
the cold air blower during the experiment.

Task 2
To demonstrate the temperature effect, blow hot air over the solar cell and measure the temperature directly in front of it with a
thermometer. Do not touch the cell as its thin p-layer can easily be damaged.
We recommend separating the lamp and solar cell more than 50 cm, because in shorter distances the temperature rise caused
by radiation could falsify the measurement. Measure the noload voltage and the short-circuit current.

Task 4

The characteristics of the solar cell should be measured in sunlight also if possible; in this case both direct and diffused
light are involved.
The thermophile is used again to determine the relationship between the short-circuit current and the light intensity,
although it measures only direct light because of its small angular aperture. For comparative purposes, therefore, we must
support a black cardboard tube about 20 cm long in front of the solar cell to screen it from the diffused light. It is important
that the thermopile and the solar cell are pointing directly into the sun.

Theory and evaluation

Pure silicon is deliberately "impurified" (doped) with tri- and pentavalent impurity atoms to make a p- or n-type semi-conductor.
If we put a p-and n-type crystal together we get a junction (pn-junction, Fig. 3) whose electrical properties determine the
performance of the solar cell.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
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Fig. 3: pn-junction in the energy-band diagram – acceptors, +

donors, UD is the diffusion potential, EF is the Fermi
characteristic energy level, and e is the elementary charge.

In equilibrium (with no external voltage) the Fermi characteristic energy level EFwill be the same throughout. Because of the
difference in the concentrations of electrons and holes in the p- and n-regions, electrons diffuse into the p-region and holes into
the n-region. The immobile impurity atoms create a space charge-limited current region; the diffusion current and the field
current offset one another in equilibrium.

Fig. 4: Construction of a silicon solar cell.

The diffusion potential UD in the pn-junction depends on the amount of doping and corresponds to the original difference
between the Fermi energy levels of the separate p- and n-regions.
The distance between the valence band and the conduction band in silicon at room temperature is

For silicon, the diffusion potential is

If light falls on the pn-junction, the photons create electronhole pairs separated by the space charge. The electrons are drawn
into the n-region and the holes into the p-region. Photons are absorbed not only in the pn-junction but also in the p-layer above
it. The electrons produced are minority carriers in those areas: their concentration is greatly reduced by recombination and with
it their efficiency. The p-layer must therefore be sufficiently thin for the electrons of diffusion length LE to enter the n-layer.

where t = thickness of p-layer.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
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Fig. 5: Light intensity J at distances s normal to the light

source.
If g is the number of electron-hole pairs produced per unit area and of a voltage U is applied across the pn-junction, a stream of
electrons and holes of density

is produced, where e is the elementary charge, k is Boltzmann’s constant, T is the temperature, L is the diffusion length of
electrons and holes, D is the diffusion constant for electrons and holes, n0 and p0 are equilibrium concentrations of the minority
carriers.
The short-circuit current density (U= 0)

is proportional to the intensity of the incident light at fixed temperature. g becomes very slightly greater (less than 0.01 %/K) as
the temperature rises.
The voltage U can become as high as the diffusion potential UD but no higher. As the temperature rises the no-load voltage
decreases typically by –2.3 mV/K, since the equilibrium concentrations n0 and p0 increase with the temperature:

Task 1:
For this task, it is assumed that all the light entering the aperture (dia. 2.5 cm) reaches the measuring surface. The sensitivity is
0.16 mv/mW. Plotting the light intensity J over the distance s gives a straight line. By extrapolating the straight line we can
determine the intensity at distances s ≤ 50 cm.
Fig. 6 shows the relationship between the light intensity and the short-circuit current and no-load voltage (Fig. 6).

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
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Fig. 6: Short-circuit current Is and no-load voltage U0 as a

function of the light intensity J.

The solar battery which consists of four cells connected in series thus has a maximum no-load voltage of 2 V. The shortcircuit
current is proportional to the light intensity.

The current-voltage characteristic at different light intensities J is shown in Fig. 7. The maximum power output is at the turning
points on the curves (joined by the broken line; Fig. 7) at which the load resistor has the same value as the internal resistance Ri
of the solar battery.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
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Fig. 7: Current-voltage characteristic at different light intensities J.

The internal resistance decreases with increasing light intensity. If we compare the maximum power output with the incident
power, we obtain an efficiency of approx. 6% (area of solar battery 50 cm2).

Task 2:
Measuring the effect of temperature on U0 and Isthe temperature distribution over the hot air area must be taken into account.
The measurements can provide only a rough order of magnitude of this. Measuring the no-load voltage with hot and cold air
gave:

We thus obtain the value –2 mV/K for one cell.

The change in short-circuit current with the temperature cannot be measured.
Task 3:
A glass plate which absorbs light in the infrared region can be used to reduce a rise in temperature of the solar battery. Fig. 8
shows the effect of the various ‘operating modes’.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com
Student's Sheet
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Fig. 8: Current-voltage characteristics of the solar battery a) with blower cooling b) with no blower
cooling c) when screened with a glass plate.

Task 6:
Sunlight incident on solar cells produces different characteristic curves from incandescent light. The reason lies in the different
spectra of the two light sources (Fig. 9). At the same light intensity, sunlight produces a higher shortcircuit current

Because the infrared region of the spectrum of sunlight is smaller, the solar cell does not heat up so much and the
measurements with and without cooling provide the same characteristics for sunlight.

Fig. 9: Spectrum of the sun (T approx. 5800 K) and of an

incandescent lamp (T appox. 2000 K), and the spectral
sensitivity of the silicon solar cell.

Robert-Bosch-Breite 10 Tel: +49 551 604 - 0 [email protected]

D - 37079 Göttingen Fax: +49 551 604 - 107 www.phywe.com