Nanotechnology and

Photovoltaics
NSE 834
Instructor : Dr. Sofia Javed
(sofia.javed@scme.nust.edu.pk)
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Course Contents
• Part 1: Fundamentals of photovoltaics:
• Properties of sunlight
• Introduction to Photovoltaic Physics, Applications, and Technologies
• Optical Properties of Nanostructures
• Photovoltaic Device Physics on the Nanoscale
• Part 2: Materials for photovoltaics
• Nanostructured Organic Solar Cells Recent Progress in Quantum Well Solar Cells
• Nanowire- and Nanotube-Based Solar Cells
• Semiconductor Nanowires: Contacts and Electronic Properties
• Quantum Dot Solar Cells, Luminescent Solar Concentrators
• Nanoparticles for Solar Spectrum Conversion
• Nano-plasmonics for Photovoltaic Applications
• Manufacturing Methods for Nanostructured Photovoltaic Devices
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Recommended Reading Material

• Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics: A State-of-the-Art Overview 430
pages. LuocasTsakalakos CRC Press 2010.
• Handouts provided during the course.
• pveducation.org
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Grading and Assessment

• Quiz: 4-5 (unannounced) 10%
• Assignment: 2 10%
• OHTs: 2 30%
• End Semester Exam: 1 50%
Fundamentals of Photovoltaics
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Introduction
• Solar Energy
• Photovoltaics(PV
• The science and technology of
converting light into electricity.
• Photovoltaics is the process of
converting sunlight directly into
electricity using solar cells.
• The green house effect

Quaid e Azam Solar Park

 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Properties of Sunlight
There are several key characteristics of the incident solar energy which
are critical in determining how the incident sunlight interacts with a
photovoltaic converter or any other object. The important
characteristics of the incident solar energy are:
• The spectral content of the incident light;
• The radiant power density from the sun;
• The angle at which the incident solar radiation strikes a photovoltaic
module; and
• The radiant energy from the sun throughout a year or day for a
particular surface.
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Basics of light
• Sunlight is a form of "electromagnetic radiation"
• “Visible light” is a small subset of the electromagnetic spectrum

Energy of photon

ℎ𝑐
𝐸=
𝜆

1.24
𝐸 𝑒𝑉 =
𝜆 𝜇𝑚
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Basics of Light (Contd.)

Photon Flux: The number of photons per second per unit area:

Power Density:
𝑊 ℎ𝑐
𝐻( 2 ) = Φ × using SI units
𝑚 𝜆

𝑊 1.24
𝐻( 2 ) = Φ × 𝑞 for wavelength in μm
𝑚 𝜆(𝜇𝑚 )

𝑊 For the same power density,

𝐻( 2 ) = Φ × 𝑞𝐸(𝑒𝑉) for energy in eV blue light requires fewer photons
𝑚 since the energy content of each photon is greater
where Φ is the photon flux and q is the value of the
electronic charge 1.6 ×10-19 C
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Basics of Light
Spectral Irradiance
• Spectral irradiance F is the power density at a particular wavelength

1
𝐹(𝜆) = 𝛷𝐸 in SI units
𝛥𝜆

• In terms of wavelength:

1.24 1
𝐹 𝜆 =Φ𝑞
𝜆 𝜇𝑚 𝛥𝜆 𝜇𝑚
• Units: Wm-2µm-1 The spectral irradiance of artificial light sources (left axis)
compared to the spectral irradiance from the sun (right axis).
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Radiant Power Density

• The total power density emitted from a light source can be calculated by
integrating the spectral irradiance over all wavelengths or energies
∞
𝐻 = ‫׬‬0 𝐹(𝜆)𝑑𝜆

𝐻 = ෌𝑖 𝐹(𝜆)Δ𝜆
𝜆𝑖+1 +𝜆𝑖 𝜆𝑖 +𝜆𝑖−1
𝛥𝜆 = −
2 2
𝜆𝑖+1 −𝜆𝑖−1
=
2
• Power in each segment is then:
𝐻𝑖 = 𝛥𝜆 ⋅ 𝐹(𝜆𝑖 )
• Summing all the segments gives the
total power H as in the equation above. Calculating the total power density from a source requires
integrating over the spectrum by calculating the area of
each element and then summing them together.
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Blackbody radiation
• A blackbody absorbs all radiation incident on its surface and emits
radiation based on its temperature.
• The blackbody sources which are of interest to photovoltaics, emit
light in the visible region.
• The total power density from a blackbody is determined by
integrating the spectral irradiance over all wavelengths which gives:
H=σT4

σ=5.67 × 10-8 J/m2s K4

 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Blackbody Radiation

Spectral intensity of light emitted from a black body on a

change in the blackbody radiation spectrum as the log-log scale. At room temperature the emission is very
temperature is increased from 1000 to 6000 K. low and centered around 10 µm.
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

The Sun
The total power emitted
by the sun is calculated
by multiplying the
emitted power density by
the surface area of the
sun which gives 9.5 x
1025 W

The surface of the sun, called the photosphere, is

at a temperature of about 6000K and closely
approximates a blackbody (see graph). For
simplicity, the 6000 K spectrum is commonly used
in detailed balance calculations but temperatures
of 5762 ± 50 K (Backus 1976) and 5730 ± 90 K
(Parrott 1993) have also been proposed as a more The total power emitted from the sun is
composed not of a single wavelength
accurate fit to the sun's spectrum.
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Solar Radiation in Space

• Only a fraction of the total power emitted by the sun impinges on an
object in space which is some distance from the sun
• Solar irradiance (H0 in W/m2) is the power density incident on an
object due to illumination from the sun:
2
𝑅𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝐻0 = 2 𝐻𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝐷
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Solar Radiation in Space

• Only a fraction of the total power emitted by the sun impinges on an
object in space which is some distance from the sun
• Solar irradiance (H0 in W/m2) is the power density incident on an
object due to illumination from the sun:
2
𝑅𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝐻0 = 2 𝐻𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝐷
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Solar Radiation Outside the Earth's Atmosphere

Hsun= 5.961 × 107 W/m2

Geometrical constants for finding the Earth's solar

irradiance. The diameter of the Earth is not needed but is
included for the sake of completeness.
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Solar Radiation reaching different planets

Planet Distance (x 109 m) Mean Solar Irradiance (W/m2)

Mercury 57 9116.4
Venus 108 2611.0
Earth 150 1366.1
Mars 227 588.6
Jupiter 778 50.5
Saturn 1426 15.04
Uranus 2868 3.72
Neptune 4497 1.51
Pluto 5806 0.878
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Solar radiation at earths atmosphere:

While the solar radiation incident on the
Earth's atmosphere is relatively constant, the
radiation at the Earth's surface varies widely
due to:
• atmospheric effects, including absorption and
scattering;
• local variations in the atmosphere, such as
water vapour, clouds, and pollution;
• latitude of the location; and
• the season of the year and the time of day.
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Atmospheric effects
Atmospheric effects have several impacts on the solar
radiation at the Earth's surface. The major effects for
photovoltaic applications are:
• a reduction in the power of the solar radiation due to
absorption, scattering and reflection in the atmosphere;
• a change in the spectral content of the solar radiation
due to greater absorption or scattering of some
wavelengths;
• the introduction of a diffuse or indirect component into
the solar radiation; and
• local variations in the atmosphere (such as water vapor,
clouds and pollution) which have additional effects on
the incident power, spectrum and directionality.

Typical clear sky absorption and scattering of incident

sunlight
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Atmospheric effects: Absorption in the Atmosphere

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Atmospheric Effects:
Direct and Diffuse Radiation Due to Scattering of Incident
Light
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Atmospheric effects: Effect of clouds and other

local variations in the atmosphere
• The final effect of the
atmosphere on incident
solar radiation is due to
local variations in the
atmosphere.

Relative output current from a photovoltaic array on a

sunny and a cloudy winter's day in Melbourne with an
array tilt angle of 60°
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Air Mass
• The Air Mass is the path length which light takes through the
atmosphere normalized to the shortest possible path length (that is,
when the sun is directly overhead).

1
𝐴𝑀 =
cos 𝜃

The air mass represents the proportion of atmosphere

that the light must pass through before striking the Earth
relative to its overhead path length, and is equal to Y/X.
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Air Mass (contd.)

An easy method to determine the air mass is from the shadow of a
vertical pole.

𝑠 2
𝐴𝑀 = 1+
ℎ
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Intensity Calculations Based on the Air Mass

• The intensity of the direct component of sunlight throughout each

day can be determined as a function of air mass from the
experimentally determined equation

IG = 1.1. ID
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Motion of the Sun

The angle between the sun and a fixed
location on Earth depends on:
the particular location (the longitude of
the location), Path of the sun in southern hemisphere

the time of year and

the time of day.
Therefore, complete modeling of the
sun's angle to a fixed position on Earth
requires the latitude, longitude, day of
the year, and time of day
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Local Solar Time (LST) and Local Time (LT)

Twelve noon local solar time (LST) is defined as when the sun is highest
in the sky.
Local time (LT) usually varies from LST because of the eccentricity of the
Earth's orbit, and because of human adjustments such as time zones
and daylight saving.
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Declination angle
The declination angle, denoted by δ,
varies seasonally due to the tilt of the Earth on its
axis of rotation and the rotation of the Earth
around the sun
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Elevation angle (Altitude angle)

• The angular height of the sun in the
sky measured from the horizontal.
Confusingly, both altitude and
elevation are also used to describe
the height in meters above sea level.
• The elevation is 0° at sunrise and 90°
when the sun is directly overhead
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Azimuth Angle
• The azimuth angle is the compass direction from which the sunlight is
coming.
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Sun Position
• The azimuth angle and the elevation angle at solar noon are the two
key angles which are used to orient photovoltaic modules. However,
to calculate the sun's position throughout the day, both the elevation
angle and the azimuth angle must be calculated throughout the day.
These angles are calculated using "solar time"
• Solar time,
• Elevation angle
• Azimuth angle
Are used to find the sun position
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Calculation of Solar Insolation

Based on the equation of the sun's position in the sky throughout the
year, the maximum amount of solar insolation on a surface at a
particular tilt angle can be calculated as a function of latitude and day
of the year.
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Calculation of Solar Insolation

Based on the equation of the sun's position in the sky throughout the
year, the maximum amount of solar insolation on a surface at a
particular tilt angle can be calculated as a function of latitude and day
of the year.
 Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics

Calculation of Solar Insolation

Based on the equation of the sun's position in the sky throughout the
year, the maximum amount of solar insolation on a surface at a
particular tilt angle can be calculated as a function of latitude and day
of the year.
Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics
Ref.: http://www.alhasan.com/sites/default/files/12-6.pdf