Influence of temperature on photovoltaic parameters of mono-crystalline silicon solar

cell
Subhash Chander, A. Purohit, Anshu Nehra, S. P. Nehra, and M. S. Dhaka

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1661, 050003 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4915362

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 Influence of Temperature on Photovoltaic Parameters of
Mono-crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
Subhash Chander1, a), A. Purohit1, Anshu Nehra2, S.P. Nehra3 and M.S. Dhaka1
1
Department of Physics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur (India) 313001
2
Department of Physics, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Sonepat (India)
131039
3
Centre of Excellence for Energy and Environmental Studies, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and
Technology, Murthal, Sonepat (India) 131039

a)
Corresponding author: sckhurdra@gmail.com

Abstract. In this study, the effect of cell temperature on photovoltaic parameters of mono-crystalline silicon solar cell is
undertaken. The experiment was carried out employing solar cell simulator at constant light intensity 550W/m2 and with
varying cell temperature in the range of 25-60C. The results show that cell temperature has a significant effect on
photovoltaic parameters. The open circuit voltage, maximum power, fill factor and efficiency are found to be decreased
with cell temperature while the reverse saturation current and short circuit current are slightly increased. The results are
in good agreement with the available literature.

Keywords: Solar cell, photovoltaic parameters, temperature, light intensity.

PACS No.: 88.40.H-, 78.56.-a, 72.40.+w, 42.60.Jf

INTRODUCTION
The solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy as it is easily available, clean and cheap energy
resource. Now days, a number of solar energy approaches are in progress but solar cells are paid more attention as
compared to other resources due to their rapid developing technology and potential applications to fulfill the energy
demands of the future world [1-6]. Mono-crystalline silicon (mono-Si) solar cell is a part of solar energy as
photovoltaic cell. A photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light energy directly into electrical energy based on
photovoltaic effect. It is just a p-n junction diode which conducts current when electromagnetic spectra or light
imposed [4]. The crystalline silicon solar cell is one of the first developed and mostly used solar cells due to its wide
range of advantage like low maintenance cost, high reliability, noiseless and eco-friendly [5]. The mono-Si solar cell
is the main branch of photovoltaic (PV) industry.
The current-voltage characteristic of a silicon solar cell is given [6].

      - - - (1)

Here, I0 is the reverse saturation current, q is electron charge, n is the diode intensity factor, k is Boltzmann constant,
T is the cell temperature, Rs is the series resistance, Rsh is the shunt resistance and IL is the light generated current of
the silicon solar cell. The overall performance of mono-Si solar cell strongly depends on the environmental
parameters such as light intensity or irradiance, tracking angle and cell temperature [6-8]. The performance of solar
cell could be changed through the variation of photovoltaic parameters like short circuit current (Isc), open circuit
voltage (Voc), maximum power point (Pmax), fill factor (FF) and efficiency (). The cell temperature is the key
environmental parameter to decide the quality and performance of mono-Si solar cell. It plays crucial role to
determine the photovoltaic parameters [6, 9-11]. Keeping in view the above facts, there is a need to study the effect
of cell temperature on the performance of mono-Si solar cells. In this paper, a study on effect of cell temperature on

Proceedings of the International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics 2014 (ICCMP 2014)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1661, 050003-1050003-3; doi: 10.1063/1.4915362
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 performance of mono-Si solar cell is undertaken employing solar cell simulator at constant light intensity of
550W/m2 with varying cell temperature in the range 25-60C. The photovoltaic parameters are also calculated.

EXPERIMENTAL ASPECTS

A mono-Si solar cell of (44) cm2 area was used in the present study employing solar cell simulator. The
experiment was carried out at varying cell temperature in the range 25-60C and with constant light intensity
550W/m2 of simulated two quartz Halogen lamps (OSRAM 50 W, 230 V each). The light intensity of Halogen
lamps was measured by solar power meter. To cool the solar cell, an exhaust fan inside the solar simulator was used
during the entire acquisition period. The measurements of cell temperature were taken using temperature control
unit of the solar simulator and varied within the order of 1C. The current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics
were taken and photovoltaic parameters were calculated.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The electrical characteristics current-voltage (I-V) and power-voltage (P-V) for mono-Si solar cell are presented
in figure 1. The measurements were taken at cell temperature 25, 40, 50 and 60C with the constant light intensity of
550W/m2. The calculated photovoltaic parameters like maximum power (Pmax), open circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor
(FF) and efficiency () of mono-Si solar cell with cell temperature are shown in table 1.

FIGURE 1. Current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics of mono-crystalline silicon solar cell at constant light intensity
550W/m2.

In the current-voltage characteristics, it is observed that there is a slight change in the current with voltage and
varied in the range 225-245mA. The characteristics estimation follows the order of cell temperature between the
voltage range of 0.025V and 0.3V as the higher cell temperature underestimates the successive lower. Thereafter,
the trend is reversed in the range 0.3-0.4V and the characteristics corresponding to lower cell temperature
underestimate the successive higher. The current is found to be decreased rapidly with voltage after 0.4V, reached
minimum at 10mA before 0.56V and the characteristics corresponding to lower temperature always beyond the
successive higher. Similarly, in power-voltage characteristics, a nearly linear change in power with voltage in the
range 0.025-0.3V is observed and obtained maximum power between range 0.4V and 0.45V. The P-V
characteristics have trend similar to the I-V characteristics beyond 0.45V as the characteristics corresponding to the
lower cell temperature overestimate the successive higher.

TABLE 1: The photovoltaic parameters of mono-Si solar cell at constant light intensity 550W/m2.
Temperature (C) Voc (V) Isc (mA) Pmax (mW) Fill Factor Cell Efficiency (%)
25 0.558 225 88.43 0.7043 10.049
40 0.540 235 87.56 0.69 9.95
50 0.528 240 84.192 0.6644 9.856

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 60 0.515 245 79.40 0.6292 9.023
The P-V characteristics clearly show that there is a point of maximum power (Pmax) where voltage is less than the
open circuit voltage (Voc) and the current is also less than the short circuit current (I sc). The variation in current and
voltage is nearly same at the point of maximum power for different cell temperature. It is visible in table 1 that Voc,
Pmax, FF and efficiency are decreased with cell temperature while Isc is slightly increased. The open circuit voltage is
varied linearly with contact potential difference [2]. The intrinsic concentration is increased rapidly with the cell
temperature. Consequently, both open circuit voltage and contact potential difference are decreased. The short-
circuit current (Isc) is proportional to the number of light generated charge carriers and mobility. The rate of
generation of photon is increased with cell temperature which cause a rapid increment in the reverse saturation
current and slight increment in short circuit current [2]. It is also observed that maximum power, fill factor and
efficiency of mono-Si solar cell are found to be decreased with the cell temperature. The results are in good
agreements with the available literature [1-2, 5, 12-13].

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a study on photovoltaic parameters of mono-crystalline silicon solar cell is reported. The
experiment was undertaken using solar cell simulator at constant light intensity 550W/m2 with cell temperature
range of 25-60C. The results show that the cell temperature has a significant impact on the photovoltaic parameters
and controlled the quality and performance of mono-Si solar cell. The open circuit voltage, maximum power, fill
factor and solar cell efficiency were found to be decreased with the cell temperature while reverse saturation current
and short circuit current were slightly increased. The results are in good agreement with the available literature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are thankful to the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE), Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay for providing solar simulator kit under Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission,
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India, New Delhi and to the University Grants
Commission (UGC), New Delhi for financial support.

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