UNIT-II

SOLAR ENERGY DEVICES

Objective:
1. To understand the working, applications and limitations of Photovoltaic cells in
harnessing the solar energy.
2. To understand the working, applications and limitations of solar reflectors
(concentrating techniques) in utilizing the solar energy.

SOLAR ENERGY DEVICES:

Photo Voltaic cells – Working principle – Applications – New generation Solar cells (Thin film
Solar cells, organic solar cell, dye sensitized solar cells) – Solar reflectors – Solar trough, Solar
dish, Solar tower - Solar water heater.
Outcomes: After learning the subject of this unit, the student will be able to
 explain the working, advantages and limitations of first generation to third generation
photovoltaic cells.
 explain the working of concentrating solar reflectors.
 describe the working of solar water heater.
 distinguish between working of PV cells and solar reflectors in conversion of solar
energy to electrical energy.

Photovoltaic cell:

Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert the solar energy directly into electricity by using photovoltaic
effect. PV based systems are commonly known as solar cells. The applications of photovoltaic
system are enormous and out of those, utilization in satellite is important.

Examples: Monocrystalline silicon, Polycrystalline silicon, Cadmium telluride photovoltaic’s,

Copper indium gallium selenide solar cell, Gallium arsenide, Dye-sensitized solar cells,
Quantum dot solar cell, Organic/polymer solar cells.
Theory or principle of Silicon PV cells:
Silicon can be made a semi-conductor by doping it with another element (called dopant),
such as boron or phosphorous. Depending on the dopant, silicon can become either p-type or n-
type semi-conductor.
Silicon has four valences. If IIIA group element (say Boron) is doped in it, Boron forms
three covalent bonds only with silicon and leaves fourth bond vacant (say ‘hole’). So the added
Boron impurity creates a hole in silicon crystal. To complete its octet, the boron doped silicon
always wants to gain electron into the hole. This type of material is called p-type.
 If VA group element (say Phosphorous) is doped in silicon, Phosphorous forms four
covalent bonds with silicon and one unpaired electron was left in phosphorous. So the added
Phosphorous impurity makes the silicon electron rich. So this silicon crystal is always ready to
give its excess electron. This type of material is called n-type.
If n-type and p-type silicon crystals are connected, it forms a diode. A photovoltaic cell
consists of series of p-n junction diodes.

Working of photovoltaic cell:Photovoltaic cells capture the energy of sunlight, which is

composed of photons. These photons contain an energy corresponding to their wavelengths in
the solar spectrum.

Whenever a photon (photon with certain level of energy) strikes the n-type
semiconductor, it moves the free electron to p-type semiconductor. So a hole is now created in n-
type. Then the electrons from nearby atoms will move into this hole, and the process will
continue until it reaches the external electrical circuit.
A solar panel (also solar module, photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel) is a packaged,
connected assembly of photovoltaic cells (which are connected in series). The solar panel can be
used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity.
Advantages:
1. Solar cells are easy to operate and need little maintenance.
2. There are no moving parts.
3. They have longer life.
4. They do not create pollution problem.
5. Their energy source is unlimited.
6. They can be easily fabricated.
Limitations:
1. The cost of solar cell is quite high.
2. The output of a solar cell is not constant; it varies with the time of day and weather.
 3. Amount of power generated is small.
4. Solar cells require more space for large scale production of electricity.

Thin film solar cells:

Silicon cell technologies based on silicon wafer are generally referred to as first generation solar
cells which are generally 200 µm-300 µm of thickness. The technology based on thin films
referred to as second generation solar cells. Usually the size of the film is 1µm-5µm, up to 30 µm
in case of poly crystalline Si thin films.
Thin film PV systems can be prepared by amorphous silicon (no grains), mono crystalline silicon
(grain size smaller than 0.1µm) and poly crystalline silicon (grain size between 0.1µm-
1mm).Very good and well known example of this kind is a PV cell prepared by CIGS
(chalcopyrite).

CIGS thin film photo voltaic cell:CIGS means Copper Indium Gallium di Selenide
Cu(In,Ga)Se2, which has p-type semiconducting nature. While construction of PV cell it is joined
with N-type CdS.
Construction: On a glass substrate first molybdenum is coated along with some sodium salt. On
which CIGS layer is taken, after that CdS layer is applied. On which Transparent Conductive
Oxide (TCO) layer is taken. At top and bottom of the cell Ag electrodes are placed for electrical
contact.

Working: TCO absorbs the light and conducts to cell. The light enters the cell through TCO layer
causes excitation in CdS (n-type) and CIGS (p-type) and hence conduction process takes place
between valence band and conduction band.
Advantages:
1. As material is taking in thin size, thin film solar cells are available at low cost.
2. CIGS PV cell has highest conversation rate of solar energy to electrical energy.
Limitations:
1. Materials used in CIGS cells are not much abundant on earth especially, Indium.
2. Cd is toxic in nature; hence after life of the module is over it should be properly recycled.

Organic Solar cell (Polymer Photo Voltaic cell): Conducting polymers can be employed as
organic semiconductors. These are easily available, have good mechanical strength and flexible.
Photo voltaic cells which are built with organic semiconducting material are generally referred to
as third generation photo voltaic cells.

But there is distinct separation between inorganic semiconductor and organic semiconductor.
Transitions take place between Valence band and Conduction band in in-organic semiconductors
but transitions takes place between HOMO(Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital) and
LUMO(Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital) in organic semiconductors (because of
conjugated pi bonds).

Construction: Organic solar cells are constructed by two polymeric materials one as acceptor and
the other is donor. Usually organic polymers are taken on glass substrate and covered with TCO.
Anode and cathode materials are connected at top and bottom for electrical contact.

Eg:

1. CuPc(copper phthalocyanine) is donor and C60(fullerene) is acceptor- photo voltaic

system is an example of small molecule based organic solar cells.
2. PPV (polyphenylenevinylenes) is donor and BBL
(poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline ladder-Photovoltaic system is an example of
polymer-polymer (bi layer)- based solar cells.
3. P3HT(poly-3-hexylthiophene)is donor and PCBM(6,6 –phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl
ester) is acceptor – photovoltaic system is an example of blends of polymers and
derivatives of fullerene, based solar cells.

Working: Once photon gets absorbed in organic semiconductor, it results in excitation of

electron from HOMO to LUMO and then a hole is created in HOMO. Movement of holes and
electrons takes places in the polymeric chain takes place simultaneously and hence conduction
takes place.

But movement of electrons and holes is much lower in organic solar cells when compared to Si
cells hence their efficiencies are much lower when compared to Si cells. But solar absorption
ratio is quite high; hence 100 nm thickness is enough for polymer solar cells.

Advantages:
1. Organic semiconductors
are available low cost and
abundant.
2. Organic PV cells are
flexible.
Limitations:
1. Efficiency of the cell is low when compared to silicon
photo voltaic cell systems.
2. Durability of the cell is a big limiting factor.

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell: Dye sensitized Solar Cell (DSC) is also considered as a thin film
solar cell.
Construction: Similar to any other solar cell, DSC also should absorb the light, generate carriers,
transport carriers to the external load at higher voltage and bring back the carrier in the cell at
lower voltage. Usually two glass plates which are coated with electrical conducting oxides are
prepared initially. In between these plates an organic dye is taken along with an electrolyte. The
dye is taken as an adsorbent compound on to wide band gap semiconductor, like TiO2.

Working: First the absorption of photon by dye molecule takes place and the dye molecule goes
to excited state. Within fraction of seconds(femtoseconds) the dye molecule gives the electron to
wide gap semiconductor and the excited dye molecule gets oxidized.

S (Dye is represented as ‘S’) + Photon →S*(excited state) →S+ + e-

The oxidized dye molecule is reduced to the original form by regaining the electrons from the
organic electrolyte solution. The electrolyte system contains iodide (I -) and tri-iodide (I3-) redox
system in which the iodide ions are being oxidized to tri-iodide ions. Free electrons from counter
electrode reduce the tri iodide molecules back to their iodide state. This makes the dye molecules
again available for the excitation/oxidation/reduction.

S+ + 3/2 I- + e- → S + ½ I3-

Usually fluorine doped tin oxide is used as TCO, TiO 2 as supporting porous semiconductor and
iodide ion solution as electrolyte and commonly used dyes are ruthenium based metal-organic
complexes.

Advantages:
1. These cells are available at low cost.
2. Because of easiness of preparation, no. of modules can be prepared.
3. Dye sensitized solar cells are flexible.
Limitations:
1. Problem with liquid electrolyte.
2. Durability is another limiting factor.
Application of Photovoltaic cells:
 The first practical application of photovoltaics is to power orbiting satellites and other
spacecraft.
  These are used in military applications.
 Grid-connected PV systems are also developed for large scale power supply.
 PV systems range from small, roof-top mounted or building-integrated systems with
capacities from a few to several tens of kilowatts.

Solar power plant (or) Concentrating solar power (CSP):

In solar power plants we use mirrors to concentrate (focus) the sun's light energy and
convert it into heat. The heat is used to create steam which drives a turbine and generates
electrical power. The plants consist of two parts: one that collects solar energy and converts it to
heat, and another that converts the heat energy to electricity.
The following three types of methods are mainly in usage to collect sunlight.
1. Parabolic trough collector
2. Solar dish system
3. Solar power tower
1. Parabolic trough collector: Trough systems use large, U-shaped (parabolic) reflectors
(focusing mirrors) that have heat transfer fluid-filled pipes running along their center, or focal
point, as shown in the following figure. Common heat transfer fluids are synthetic oil, molten
salt and pressurized steam. A fluid passes through the receiver and becomes very hot. The
mirrored reflectors are tilted toward the sun, and focus sunlight on the pipes to heat the oil inside
to as much as 400oC. The hot oil is then used to boil water, which makes steam to run
conventional steam turbines and generators.
The trough is parabolic along one axis and linear in the orthogonal axis. For change of the daily
position of the sun perpendicular to the receiver, the trough tilts east to west so that the direct
radiation remains focused on the receiver. However, seasonal changes in the in angle of sunlight
parallel to the trough does not require adjustment of the mirrors, since the light is simply
concentrated elsewhere on the receiver. Thus the trough design does not require tracking on a
second axis. The receiver may be enclosed in a glass vacuum chamber. The vacuum significantly
reduces convective heat loss.
Full-scale parabolic trough systems consist of many such troughs laid out in parallel over a large
area of land. Since 1985 a solar thermal system using this principle has been in full operation in
California in the United States. It is called the Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) system.
2. Solar dish system: Dish systems use mirrored dishes (about 10 times larger than a backyard
satellite dish) to focus and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. As shown in the following
figure, the receiver is placed at the focal point of the dish. The dish follows the motion of the Sun
just as a Sunflower. A tower resides in the centre of the heliostat field. The heliostats focus
concentrated sunlight on a receiver which sits on top of the tower. Within the receiver the
concentrated sunlight heats molten salt to over 1,000°F (538°C). The heated molten salt then
flows into a thermal storage tank where it is stored, maintaining 98% thermal efficiency, and
eventually pumped to a steam generator. The steam drives a standard turbine to generate
electricity. This process, also known as the "Rankine cycle" is similar to a standard coal-fired
power plant, except it is fueled by clean and free solar energy.

3. Solar power tower: Power tower systems also called central receivers, use many large, flat
heliostats (mirrors) to track the sun and focus its rays onto a receiver. As shown in the following
figure, the receiver sits on top of a tall tower. The receiver consists of a heat transfer fluid which
will get nearly 600oC. The hot fluid will be utilized to generate steam and thereafter electricity.
The heat transfer fluid has a capacity to store its heat for many hours. So the molten salt can be
utilized to produce electricity after sunset or on cloudy days.

Advantages of solar power plant:

 Solar power is clean energy with little environmental impact, and does not release air
pollutants or noise while it is being generated.
  Since the source of energy is Sun, we can install solar power plant anywhere on the earth
which is not possible in case of hydraulic or nuclear or thermal power plants.
 With few moving parts in its system it has no mechanical corrosion and long life.
Limitations: Installation costs are currently high. Generation of electricity depends on season and
location conditions of the field.

Comparison between parabolic trough and solar dish:

The advantage of solar dish design over the parabolic trough design is the higher
temperature. Thermal energy at higher temperatures can be converted to electricity more
efficiently and can be more cheaply stored for later use. Furthermore, there is less need to
flatten the ground area. In principle a power tower can be built on the side of a hill. Mirrors
can be flat and plumbing is concentrated in the tower.
Solar Water Heater:
Solar water heating is very popular in warm, sunny climates. The solar water heaters
consist of a storage tank horizontally mounted above the solar collectors on the roof. Flat – plate
collectors for heating water consists of thin broad box with a glass or plastic top and a black
bottom in which water tubes are embedded as shown in figure. These collectors are faced
towards the sun and the black bottoms get hot when it absorbs sunlight. Thus water circulating
tubes are heated and are conveyed to a tank where it is stored. In winter sometimes the solar
heaters are not efficient due to insufficient sunlight. Solar heaters are of two types Active and
Passive systems.

ASSIGNMENT CUM TUTORIAL QUESTIONS

Section A: Objective questions:

1. Solar cells convert solar energy to electricity by the mechanism of _____

[ ]
(a) Photovoltaic effect (b) Photosynthesis
(c) Photo chemical reactions (d) Photocatalytic effect
2. Solar reflectors contain_____________ [ ]
(a) metal surfaces (b) wooden surfaces
 (c) mirror surfaces (d) semiconductors
3. Match the following [ ]
List I List II
(semiconducting material) (photovoltaic cell)
1
CIGS A) Organic photo voltaic cell
)
2
Polymers B) Dye sensitized solar cells
)
3
Colored organic compounds C) Thin film solar cell
)
(a) 1-B,2-A,3-C (b) 1-A,2-C,3-B (c) 1-C,2-A,3-B (d) 1-C,2-B,3-A

4. Which of the following statement is true? [ ]

a) Transition takes place between valence band and conduction band in organic
semiconductor.
b) Transition takes place between valence band and conduction band in dye sensitized solar
cell.
c) Transition takes place between HOMO and LUMO levels polymer photo voltaic cells.
5. A photo voltaic cell converts ___________energy to _____________ energy.
6. Si doped with III group element is called ___________type semiconductor.
7.n-type semiconductor is obtained by doping silicon with _______ group element.
8. Satellite power requirement is provided by _________________.
9. Si wafer cell is the example of ____________ generation solar cell.
10. Dye sensitized solar cell considered as an example of _____________ solar cell.
Section B: Subjective questions:
1. What are p-type and n-type semiconductors?
2. What is photo voltaic effect?
3. What is the principle of PV cell?
4. Explain the construction and working of Si wafer solar cells.
5. Discuss the advantages and limitations of Silicon PV cells.
6. What are thin film solar cells? Explain the construction and working of CIGS solar cell.
7. Explain the conduction process in organic solar cells, discuss the advantages and
limitations.
8. How does a dye sensitized solar cell works? Is there any difference in working from Si
wafer cell?
9. Write short note on the following; a) Parabolic trough b) Solar dish c) Solar tower
10. Discuss the working of solar water heater.
11. Compare the working of silicon wafer cell with dye sensitized solar cell.
12. Analyze the difference in working of first generation photovoltaic cells and third
generation photovoltaic cells.
13. Evaluate the advantages and limitations of first, second and third generation photovoltaic
cells.
14. Identify and discuss the difference of working of solar reflectors and photovoltaic
systems.
*****