Lahore University of Management Sciences

EEE-555 Renewable Energy Systems

Assignment No. 3
Problem 1: [Stanford ]
A silicon diode has doping in the p and n regions of NA and ND respectively. The minority
electrons in the p region have diffusion length Ln and diffusivity Dn, and the minority holes
in the n region have diffusion length Lp and diffusivity Dp. The values for these are given in
the table below.
-3

ND (m )
2*1022

N Region
Lp (m)
11.4*10-5

Dp (m /s)
0.00125

NA (m- )
2*1023

P Region
Ln (m)
4.1*10-4

Dn (m2/s)
.00335

(a) Find Js.

(b) Find the current density when this diode is forward biased with 0.66 V.
(c) Make a plot of the current density as a function of voltage for this diode.
Now we illuminate this junction with the spectra n(E) shown below.

(d) Assuming each photon above the band gap produces a carrier, what is the light current density
through the cell?
(e) What is the total current density through the cell when it is forward biased with a voltage of
0.66 V?
(f) Make a plot of the current density as a function of voltage for this cell when it is illuminated.
(g) What is the maximum power density (W/cm2) for this cell?
(h) What is the efficiency for this cell?
(i) What is the open circuit voltage Voc for this cell under illumination?

Problem 2 [Stanford]
An ideal (Rsh = 1, Rs = 0) Si p-n junction solar cell with the following
properties:
N Region
P Region
ND (m-3)
Lp (m)
p s
NA (m-3)
n (s)
Dn (m2/s)

1022
11.4*10-5
5*10-7
5*1024
10-7
.00255
2
is exposed to the standard AM1.5 solar spectrum with an intensity of 900 W/m
corresponding to a solar ux of photons with energy above the bandgap of 2.5*1017 cm-2s-1.
The temperature of the device is held at 300 K.

(a) Find the light-induced current density JL Assume that a carrier is excited for each incident
photon with energy greater than the bandgap.
(b) Find the minority carrier diffusion lengths Ln and Lp.
(c) Find the reverse saturation current density Js.
(d) Find the open circuit voltage Voc.
(e) Again assuming ideal diode behavior, and the efficiency of this solar cell.
(f) What is the cell efficiency if we increase the solar ux by a factor of 100?
Problem 3
The power produced by the cell is given by the equation below:
Where, Va= output voltage, I = output current, Vt= kT/q = 0.0256 mV, Iph = Light generated
current
Using the above equation derive that the formula for the voltage at maximum power point is
given by the iterative formula

I m I ph * (1

Vt
)
Vm

If the current at maximum power is approximated by

Calculate the expression for maximum power output of the solar cell. Using the derived
formulas, calculate the solar cell efficiency and fill factor for 1 cm 2 silicon solar cell that has
a saturation current of 10-12 A and is illuminated with sunlight yielding a short-circuit
photocurrent of 25 mA. http://ecee.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/chapter4/ch4_6.htm#4_6_2
Problem 4 http://ecee.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/chapter4/ch4_8.htm#4_8_2
Using the derived formulas in problem 3, recalculate the maximum power and efficiency of
the solar cell described in problem 1 and 2. Calculate the percentage error between the
formula method and iterative curve method for efficiency calculation in solar cell.
Problem 5 [TUDelft Assignment 3 www.solar.udel.edu/ELEG620 ]
A silicon solar cell (band gap 1.12 eV) is uniformly illuminated by monochromatic light of
wavelength 800 nm and intensity 20 mW/cm2
Given that the quantum efficiency at this wavelength is 0.80
a) Find the short circuit current if the area of the cell is 4 cm2
b) For the same quantum efficiency, what would be the short circuit current if the cell were
made of a semiconductor with band gap (i) 0.7 eV, and (ii) 2.0 eV.
c) For the silicon solar cell in a), calculate the open circuit voltage, fill factor and energy
conversion efficiency, given the ideality factor is 1.2 and the dark saturation current density is
1 pA/cm2

Problem 6 [TUDelft Assignment 3 www.solar.udel.edu/ELEG620]

A 1 cm2 solar cell at 300 K under AM1.5G spectrum has an open-circuit voltage of
650 mV, a short circuit current density of 35mA/cm2 and an ideality factor of 1.3.
Find the fill factor and hence efficiency of the solar cell under the following conditions:
a) Series resistance is zero and shunt resistance infinite (ideal)
b) Series resistance is 0.8 , shunt resistance infinite
c) Series resistance is zero, shunt resistance is 2 k
d) Series resistance is 0.8 , shunt resistance is 2 k
Problem 7 {Previous assignment 3}
A PV device is illuminated with a light source and the photon flux can be approximated as

The width of highly doped N-type emitter is 5um, the width of P-doped base is 55um and the
width of the depletion region is 5um. When illuminated with a light source, the collection
probability in the emitter is 0.8 and the probability in quasi-neutral base is around 0.6. The optical
absorption coefficient of the solar cell can be approximated through figure 1.
Answer the following (assume the reflectivity is negligible);
a. Formulate the equation for the generation rate of the carriers with in the device
b. Calculate the photo generated current due to the absorption of photons from
200nm to 600 nm
600nm to 900nm
c. From your calculations, can you suggest any design improvement for the solar cell under
investigation?