TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
THAPATHALI CAMPUS
A REPORT ON
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOLAR PV CELL
Submitted by: Submitted to:
SOYUZ SAPKOTA Department of Automobile and
THA074BME041 Mechanical Engineering
OBJECTIVES:
To measure the short Isc, Voc of a a PV module and calculate the
maximum power
To understand the basic functioning of solar PV cell.
APPARATUS REQUIRED:
Voltmeter
Connecting wires
PV cell
Charge controller
Battery
Clamp meter
Connecting wires
Electrical toolkit
THEORY:
When light shines on a photovoltaic (PV) cell – also called a solar cell – that light may
be reflected, absorbed, or pass right through the cell. The PV cell is composed of
semiconductor material; the “semi” means that it can conduct electricity better than an
insulator but not as well as a good conductor like a metal. There are several different
semiconductor materials used in PV cells.
When the semiconductor is exposed to light, it absorbs the light’s energy and transfers it
to negatively charged particles in the material called electrons. This extra energy allows
the electrons to flow through the material as an electrical current. This current is
extracted through conductive metal contacts – the grid-like lines on a solar cells – and
can then be used to power your home and the rest of the electric grid.
The efficiency of a PV cell is simply the amount of electrical power coming out of the cell
compared to the energy from the light shining on it, which indicates how effective the
cell is at converting energy from one form to the other. The amount of electricity
produced from PV cells depends on the characteristics (such as intensity and
wavelengths) of the light available and multiple performance attributes of the cell.
An important property of PV semiconductors is the bandgap, which indicates what
wavelengths of light the material can absorb and convert to electrical energy. If the
semiconductor’s bandgap matches the wavelengths of light shining on the PV cell, then
that cell can efficiently make use of all the available energy.
The operation of a photovoltaic (PV) cell requires three basic attributes:
The absorption of light, generating either electron-hole pairs or excitons.
The separation of charge carriers of opposite types.
The separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit.
For a PV cell the Fill Factor (FF) is said to be 0.75. 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 that would be output at both the open circuit voltage and short
circuit current together.
Vmp∗Imp
i.e. FF=
Voc∗Isc
where, Voc= Velocity in open circuit,
Isc= Current in short circuit,
Vmp = Maximum Voltage,
Imp = Maximum Current.
The given graph represents the general trend shown by a IV graph in a PV cell. We see
that the maximum power in a PV cell (Pmax) is the product of maximum current and
maximum voltage.
i.e. Pmax = Vmp * Imp
OBSERVATION and CALCULATION:
Isc = 3.67 A
Voc = 20.05 V
Vmp∗Imp
Now, FF=
Voc∗Isc
Vmp∗Imp
0.75=
20.05∗3. .67
0.75 * 20.05 * 3.67 = Vmp * Imp
Vmp* Imp = 55.19
We have,
Pmax = Vmp * Imp
Hence, Pmax = 55.19 W
.RESULT AND CONCLUSION: For the given PV module the value of maximum power
was calculated to be 55.19 W . The value of short circuit current and open circuit
voltage was calculated. IV curve is not proceedable because we were lacking data.
The value of fill factor is used to calculate the value of maximum power.
