PARVATHAREDDY BABUL REDDY

VISVODAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

(Affiliated to J.N.T.U.A, Approved by AICTE and Accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade)
KAVALI – 524201, S.P.S.R Nellore Dist., A.P. India. Ph: 08626-243930

Introduction
to

PV ENERGY SYSTEM
UNIT-ii
Prepared by
A. Ramanjaneyulu
CLASS-IV-I SEM
Assistant Professor
Subject: RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
Dept of ME
PBR VITS Kavali.
 SYLLABUS
UNIT-II----------> PV ENERGY SYSTEMS
• Introduction, The PV effect in crystalline
silicon basic principles, the film PV, Other PV
technologies, Electrical characteristics of
silicon PV cells and modules, PV systems for
remote power, Grid connected PV systems.
 Photovoltaic system
A photovoltaic (PV) system is composed of
one or more solar panels combined with
an inverter and other electrical and
mechanical hardware that use energy from
the Sun to generate electricity.
PV systems can vary greatly in size from small
roof top or portable systems to large-scale
generation plants.
solar PV system
 photovoltaic effect
• The light from the Sun, made up of packets of energy
called photons, falls onto a solar panel and creates an electric
current through a process called the photovoltaic effect.
Photovoltaic system
 inverter
 The electricity produced from a solar panel (or
array) is in the form of direct current (DC).
 Therefore, in order for the solar electricity to be
useful it must first be converted from DC to AC
using an inverter.
 This AC electricity from the inverter can be used
to power electronics locally, or be sent on to
the electrical grid for use elsewhere.
 Racking
 Racking refers to the mounting apparatus which
fixes the solar array to the ground or rooftop.
 Typically constructed from steel or aluminum,
these apparatuses mechanically fix the solar
panels in place with a high level of precision.
 Racking systems should be designed to withstand
extreme weather events such as hurricane or
tornado level wind speeds
 Other Components
• The remaining components of a typical solar
PV system include combiners, disconnects,
breakers, meters and wiring.
 What is a PV Cell or Solar Cell?
A PV Cell or Solar Cell or
Photovoltaic Cell is the smallest and
basic building block of a Photovoltaic
System .
These cells vary in size ranging
from about 0.5 inches to 4 inches.
These are made up of solar photovoltaic material that converts
solar radiation into direct current (DC) electricity.
 Materials used for photovoltaic cell

Mono crystalline Silicon,

Polycrystalline Silicon,
Microcrystalline Silicon,
Cadmium Telluride, And
Copper Indium Selenide /Sulfide.
 Components of solar cell
The solar cell consists of
(i) p-type silicon material layer,
(ii) n-type silicon material layer,
(iii) Front metallic grid and
(iv) Opaque back metal contact as shown in
Figure
 construction details
• The bulk material consists of p-type silicon having
thickness about 100-350 mm.

• A thin layer of n-type silicon having thickness of about 2

mm is diffused on this bulk material, providing p-n
junction.

• A metallic grid at top with n-type material and an opaque

back metal contact at the bottom of p-type material are
provided which also act as negative and positive
terminals.
Solar Photovoltaic Panels
• An array or Solar PV Cells are electrically
connected together to form a PV Module and
an Array of such Modules are again electrically
connected together to form a Solar Panel.
• This connection is done by soldering using flux
cored solder wire and PV Ribbon.
Solar Cell, Solar Module and
Solar Panel
 PV Cell Working Principle to
Generate Electricity
Solar cells convert the energy in sunlight to
electrical energy.
Solar cells contain a material such as silicon
that absorbs light energy.
The energy knocks electrons loose so they can
flow freely and produce a difference in electric
potential energy, or voltage.
Layers of a PV Cell
 Layers of a PV Cell
• A photovoltaic cell is comprised of many layers of materials,
each with a specific purpose.
• The most important layer of a photovoltaic cell is the
specially treated semiconductor layer.
• It is comprised of two distinct layers of p-type and n-type,
and is what actually converts the Sun's energy into useful
electricity through a process called the photovoltaic effect.
• On either side of the semiconductor is a layer of conducting
material which "collects" the electricity produced.
 Layers of a PV Cell
 Note that the backside or shaded side of the cell can afford to
be completely covered in the conductor, whereas the front or
illuminated side must use the conductors sparingly to avoid
blocking too much of the Sun's radiation from reaching the
semiconductor.
 The final layer which is applied only to the illuminated side of
the cell is the anti-reflection coating.
 Since all semiconductors are naturally reflective, reflection
loss can be significant.
 The solution is to use one or several layers of an anti-
reflection coating (similar to those used for eyeglasses and
cameras) to reduce the amount of solar radiation that is
reflected off the surface of the cell.
 PV Cell Working Principle to
Generate Electricity
 The flow of electrons or negative charge creates
electric current.
 Solar cells have positive and negative contacts, like
the terminals in a Battery.
 If the contacts are connected with a conductive wire,
current flows from the negative to positive contact.
 The Figure below shows how a PV cell works to
generate electricity.
PV Cell Working Principle to
Generate Electricity
 TYPES OF SOLAR CELL
 There are different types of photovoltaic cells available to
buy, but mainly they are manufactured from silicon (Si).
 The use of silicon in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells
produces the stereo typical uniform blue coloured PV cell
which we see on roof tops and the sides of buildings.
 The two major types of photovoltaic cell materials used are
crystalline silicon and thin film deposits, which vary from
each other in terms of light absorption efficiency, energy
conversion efficiency, manufacturing technology and cost
of production.
 TYPES OF SOLAR CELL
 Crystalline silicon PV cells are the most common type
of photovoltaic cell in use today and are also one of the
earliest successful PV devices.
 The three general types of photovoltaic cells made
from silicon are:
1. Mono-crystalline Silicon – also known as single-crystal
silicon
2. Poly-crystalline Silicon – also known as multi-crystal
silicon
3. Thin Film Silicon
 Crystalline Silicon (c-Si)
 This is the most common technology used to produce
photovoltaic cells representing about 90% of the market
today.
 Crystalline photovoltaic cells are made from silicon which is
first melted, and then crystallised into ingots or casting‘s of
pure silicon.
 Thin slices of silicon called wafers, are cut from a single
crystal of silicon (Mono-crystalline) or from a block of
silicon crystals (Poly-crystalline) to make individual cells.
 The conversion efficiency for these types of photovoltaic
cell ranges between 10% and 20%.
 Mono-crystalline
 Silicon is a type of photovoltaic cell material manufactured from a
single-crystal silicon structure which is uniform in shape because
the entire structure is grown from the same crystal.
 High purity silicon is melted in a crucible. A single-crystal silicon
seed is dipped into this molten silicon and is slowly pulled out from
the liquid producing a single-crystal ingot.
 The ingot is then cut into very thin wafers or slices which are then
polished, doped, coated, interconnected and assembled into
modules and arrays.
 These types of photovoltaic cells are also widely used in
photovoltaic panel construction.
 Mono-crystalline
 Compared to non-crystalline cells, the uniform molecular structure
of the silicon wafer makes it ideal for transferring loose electrons
through the material resulting in a high energy conversion
efficiency.
 The conversion efficiency for a mono-crystalline cell ranges
between 15 to 20%.
 Not only are they energy efficient, mono-crystalline photovoltaic
cells are highly reliable for outdoor power applications due to their
wafer thickness.
 However, to make an effective PV cell, the silicon has to be
―doped‖ with other elements to make the required N-type and P-
type conductive layers.
Monocrystalline solar panels
 Poly-crystalline solar panels
 Silicon also known as multi-crystalline silicon, is cast to produce a silicon
ingot.
 The silicon molecular structure consists of several smaller groups or grains
of crystals, which introduce boundaries between them.
 Poly-crystalline PV cells are less energy efficient than the previous mono-
crystalline silicon PV cells because these boundaries restrict the flow of
electrons through it by encouraging the negative electrons to recombine
with the positive holes reducing the power output of the cell.
 The result of this means that a poly-crystalline PV cell only has an energy
conversion efficiency of between 10 to 14%.
 However, these types of photovoltaic cell are much less expensive to
produce than the equivalent single mono-crystalline silicon due to their
lower manufacturing costs.
Poly-crystalline solar panels
 Thin-film solar cells
 Thin-film solar cells are made by depositing one or more thin
layers (thin films or TFs) of photovoltaic material onto a
substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal.
 Thin Film Solar Cell
 Thin Film Solar Cells are another type of photovoltaic cell
which were originally developed for space applications with a
better power-to-size and weight ratio compared to the
previous crystalline silicon devices.
 Thin film photovoltaics are produced by printing or spraying a
thin semiconductor layer of PV material onto a glass, metal or
plastic foil substrate.
 By applying these materials in thin layers, the overall
thickness of each photovoltaic cell is substantially smaller
than an equivalent cut crystalline cell, hence the name ―thin
film.
 Thin Film Solar Cell
 As the PV materials used in these types of photovoltaic cells are
sprayed directly onto a glass or metal substrate, the manufacturing
process is therefore faster are cheaper making thin film PV
technology more viable for use in a home solar system as their
payback time is shorter.
 However, although thin film materials have higher light absorption
than equivalent crystalline materials, thin film PV cells suffer from
poor cell conversion efficiency due to their non-single crystal
structure, requiring larger sized cells.
 Semiconductor materials used for the thin film types of
photovoltaic cell include: Cadmium Telluride, Amorphous Silicon
and Copper Indium diSelenide or CIS.
Thin Film Solar Cell
 Cadmium Telluride, (CdTe)
 Cadmium Telluride, (CdTe) is a poly-crystalline semiconductor material
made from cadmium and tellurium.
 Thin film cadmium telluride has a high light absorption level so the
amount of CdTe required can be quite minimal with less than 1.0 microns
of semiconductor material is needed to effectively absorb sunlight for
the solar device to perform.
 Although the process of spraying or printing the thin film is relatively easy
making it cheap to manufacture these types of photovoltaic cell, the main
material, cadmium is a toxic heavy metal can pollute the environment if
the cell is damaged or broken.
 Another disadvantage of these types of photovoltaic cells is that the
conversion efficiency for a cadmium telluride PV cell can be low at less
than 10%.
 Amorphous Silicon, (a-Si)
 Amorphous Silicon, (a-Si) is a non-crystalline form of silicon
that is widely used in calculators, consumer electronics and
solar garden products that require a small current at a low
voltage.
 Different types of photovoltaic cell available, amorphous
silicon has the highest light absorption of over 40 times
higher than crystalline silicon.
 The advantage of this is that a much thinner layer of
amorphous silicon material is required to make a thin film
PV cell reducing manufacturing costs and price.
 Amorphous Silicon, (a-Si)
 Amorphous silicon cells have various advantages and
disadvantages.
 On the plus side, amorphous silicon can be deposited on a
variety of low cost rigid and flexible substrates such as
polymers, thin metals and plastics as well as tinted glass for
building integration.
 However, on the minus side, two of the main disadvantages
of amorphous silicon (a-Si) is its very low conversion
efficiency ranging from between 7 to 9% when new,
degrading down within a few months of exposure to
sunlight to less than 5%.
 Copper Indium diSelenide, (CIS)
• Copper Indium diSelenide, (CIS) is another type of poly-crystalline
semiconductor material composed of Copper, Indium and Selenium, (CuInSe2).
• Thin film CIS types of photovoltaic cell can produce conversion efficiencies of
nearly 10%, almost double that of amorphous silicon without suffering from
the same outdoor degradation problems due to their thicker film.

• Also CIS cells are one of the most light-absorbent semiconductor compounds
absorbing up to 90% of the solar spectrum.
• Although Copper Indium diSelenide, CIS cells are efficient, the complexity of the
formulation of the semiconductor compound makes them difficult to
manufacture and expensive.
• Also, Indium is a relatively expensive material due to its limited availability with
manufacturing safety issues a concern as hydrogen selenide is an extremely
toxic gas.
 Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide, (CIGS)
 Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide, (CIGS) is another type of
photovoltaic cell.
 It is basically a P-type poly-crystalline thin film material based on the
previous copper indium diselenide (CIS) semiconductor material.
 The addition of small amounts of the compound Gallium (Ga)
produces a photovoltaic cell with a higher conversion efficiency of
around 12% from the same amount of sunlight with an open circuit
voltage of about 0.7 volts.
 This is because Gallium, which is a liquid similar to mercury at room
temperatures, increases the light-absorbing band gap of the cell,
which matches more closely the solar spectrum, thereby improving
its conductivity allowing electrons to freely move through the cell to
the electrodes.
 Other Types of Photovoltaic Cell
• Apart from the commonly used types of
photovoltaic cell mentioned above, and which
account for about 95% of the commercial market,
other types of photovoltaic cell currently being
developed include:
• Multijunction PV Cells
• Dye-Sensitive PV Cells
• 3D Photovoltaic Cells
 Multi junction PV Cells
• These are types of photovoltaic cell designed to
maximise the overall conversion efficiency of
the cell by creating a multi-layered design in
which two or more PV junctions are layered one
on top of the other.
• The cell is made up of various semiconductor
materials in thin-film form for each individual
layer.
 Multi junction PV Cells
• The advantage of this is that each layer
extracts energy from each photon from a
particular portion of the light spectrum that is
bombarding the cell.
• This layering of the PV materials increases the
overall efficiency and reduces the degradation
in efficiency that occurs with standard
amorphous silicon cells.
 Dye-Sensitive PV Cells
• – This type of technology is considered to be the 3rd generation of solar
cells.
• Instead of using solid-state PN-junction technology to convert photon
energy into electrical energy, an electrolyte, liquid, gel or solid is used to
produce a photo-electrochemical PV cell.
• These types of photovoltaic cells are manufactured using microscopic
molecules of photosensitive dye on a nano-crystalline or polymer film.
• The photon light energy being absorbed by the dye releases electrons
into the conduction band causing a flow of the electricity through the
semiconductor.
• The advantage of a dye-sensitive nano-crystalline photo-electrochemical
photovoltaic cell is that the dye can be screen printed onto any surface
producing conversion efficiencies of around 10%.
 3D Photovoltaic Cells
• – This type of photovoltaic cell uses a unique
three-dimensional structure to absorb the
photon light energy from all directions and not
just from the top as in convectional flat PV cells.
• The cell uses a 3D array of miniature molecular
structures which capture as much sunlight as
possible boosting its efficiency and voltage
output while reducing its size, weight and
complexity.
Comparison of types of Solar cells
 Electrical characteristics of silicon PV cells
and modules
• PV cells can be modeled as a current source in
parallel with a diode.
• When there is no light present to generate any
current, the PV cell behaves like a diode.
• As the intensity of incident light increases,
current is generated by the PV cell, as
illustrated in Figure.
Electrical characteristics of silicon PV
cells and modules
 Electrical characteristics of silicon PV cells
and modules
• In an ideal cell, the total current I is equal to
the current Iℓ generated by the photoelectric
effect minus the diode current ID,
• according to the equation:
• where
I0 is the saturation current of the diode
q is the elementary charge 1.6x10-19 Coulombs,
k is a constant of value 1.38x10-23J/K
T is the cell temperature in Kelvin
V is the measured cell voltage that is either
produced
 I-V curve of a PV cell
• The I-V curve of an illuminated PV cell has the
shape shown in the following Figure as the
voltage across the measuring load is swept
from zero to VOC,
 Short Circuit Current (ISC)
• The short circuit current ISC corresponds to the short circuit
condition
• when the impedance is low and is calculated when the
voltage equals 0.
• I (at V=0) = ISC
• ISC occurs at the beginning of the forward-bias sweep and
is the maximum current value in the power quadrant.
• For an ideal cell, this maximum current value is the total
current produced in the solar cell by photon excitation.
• ISC = IMAX = Iℓ for forward-bias power quadrant
 Open Circuit Voltage (VOC)
• The open circuit voltage (VOC) occurs when
there is no current passing through the cell.
• V (at I=0) = VOC
• VOC is also the maximum voltage difference
across the cell for a forwardbias sweep in the
power quadrant.
• VOC= VMAX for forward-bias power quadrant
 Maximum Power (PMAX), Current at
PMAX (IMP), Voltage at PMAX (VMP)
The power produced by the cell in
Watts can be easily calculated along
the I-V sweep by the equation P=IV.
At the ISC and VOC points, the
power will be zero and the maximum
value for power will occur between
the two.
The voltage and current at this
maximum power point are denoted as
VMP and IMP respectively.
 Fill Factor
• The Fill Factor (FF) is essentially a measure of
quality of the solar cell.
• It is calculated by comparing the maximum
power to the theoretical power (PT) that would
be output at both the open circuit voltage and
short circuit current together.
• FF can also be interpreted graphically as the ratio
of the rectangular areas depicted in Figure
Fill Factor
 Fill Factor
• A larger fill factor is desirable, and
corresponds to an I-V sweep that is more
square-like.
• Typical fill factors range from 0.5 to 0.82. Fill
factor is also often represented as a
percentage.
 Efficiency (η)
• Efficiency is the ratio of the electrical power
output Pout, compared to the solar power
input, Pin, into the PV cell.
• Pout can be taken to be PMAX since the solar
cell can be operated up to its maximum power
output to get the maximum efficiency.
 Types of PV Systems
• Photovoltaic power systems are generally classified
according to their functional and operational requirements,
their component configurations, and how the equipment is
connected to other power sources and electrical loads.
• The two principle classifications are grid-connected or
utility-interactive systems and stand-alone systems.
• Photovoltaic systems can be designed to provide DC and/or
AC power service, can operate interconnected with or
independent of the utility grid, and can be connected with
other energy sources and energy storage systems.
 Types of PV Systems
• PV Direct System
• Solar Off Grid System
• Solar Grid Tied with Battery Backup System
• Hybrid system
 PV Direct System
 These are the simple most type of solar PV systems, with
the fewest components; the Solar Panels and the load.
 Because they don‘t have batteries and are not hooked up to
the grid, they only power the loads when the sun is shining.
 They are appropriate for a few applications e.g. water
pumping or Ventilation fan.
 Solar Off Grid System
 Also referred to as stand-alone systems, it is
designed to be independent of the power grid.
 Batteries are used to store energy when the sun
is not available during cloudy days or at night.
 This type of system will require regular attention
to battery electrolyte levels and terminal
corrosion.
 Solar Off Grid System
 Independence from the utility grid
 In remote areas, it is cost effective than extending a grid
 Batteries require maintenance and has limited life
 More components means more complexity
 Batteries decrease system efficiency
 It is more expensive than a grid-direct system
 When the batteries are fully charged, potential power from the PV array is
not utilized
 If the PV system fails, back-up electricity is required to run load
 Most off-grid systems use a backup generator for non-sunny days. They are
expensive, noisy, dirty, and require fuel and regular maintenance
Solar Off Grid System
 Solar Grid Tied with Battery Backup
System
 This type is very similar to an off-grid system in design and
components, but adds the utility grid, which reduces the
need for the system to provide all the energy all the time.
 Grid-tied-with-battery-backup
 Designated loads have power when the grid goes down
 If the system produces more than the home needs, then the
extra energy is sold back to the utility- not lost as in a stand-
alone systems after the batteries get full on a sunny day
Gird tied solar system with battery back up
 Gird tied solar system with battery
back up
 Batteries require maintenance
 Requires rewiring circuits from main service panel to a separate
subpanel
 More components mean more complexity
 Batteries decrease system performance because of their
efficiency losses
 More expensive than a grid-direct system
 Typically only provides modest backup – usually not all of the
loads are backed up.
 Requires paperwork for interconnection, incentives, and rebates
 Solar Grid Tied System without Battery backup
• These are most common type of PV systems. They are also
known as on-grid, grid-tied, grid-intertied, or grid-direct
systems.
• They generate solar electricity and route it to the loads and to
the grid, offsetting some of electricity usage.
• System components comprises of the PV array and inverter.
• Grid-connected system is similar to regular electric powered
system except that some or all of the electricity comes from
the sun.
• The drawback of these battery less systems is that they
provide no outage protection when the utility grid fails, these
systems cannot operate.
Grid tied system without battery back up
 Hybrid system
 Hybrid system tries to combine multiple sources of
power to maximize availability of power.
 It may source energy from sun, wind or diesel
generator and back it up with battery.
 Multiple sources of generation allows for
complementary sources and backup.
 For instance, when it is sunny out the PV array will
charge the battery; if it is cloudy and windy, a wind
turbine can charge the batteries.
Hybrid power systems
 Hybrid power systems
 Array size and battery bank capacity can typically
be reduced and not having to oversize for periods of
no sun
 More complex system design and installation
 Multiple power sources can increase upfront
expenses.
 Wind turbines and generators require regular
maintenance.