Introduction to Alternative Energies

Unit 5 – Solar Energy (Photovoltaic)

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“Is There Enough Solar Energy in Ohio?”
• Ohio receives 1.4 megawatt hours per square
meter (MWh/m2) in an average year
• Annually residents of Ohio use 4.5 MWh for
electricity and 7.6 MWh for heat
• Covered in the previous unit Solar Energy for
heat

This unit now covers the systems used for solar

electricity or solar photovoltaic
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After completing this unit you will…

• Be able to explain what a photovoltaic

cell is and how it converts sunlight to
electrical energy
• Be aware of some of the different types
and variations of photovoltaic cells
• Be able to determine the amount of
energy achieved from a photovoltaic cell

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• What is a
photovoltaic cell
and how do they
convert sunlight
into electric
energy

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Let’s start with…
Photovoltaic

Photo = light Voltaic = electricity

Light-electricity or electricity from light

A solar photovoltaic cell produces electricity

from sunlight
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A simple way to explain
photovoltaics…
• Is the reverse of an LED
(light emitting diode)
• When electricity is applied
to an LED, light is emitted
• Photovoltaics work just
the opposite, when
exposed to light (sun
light) electricity is
produced
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• Electricity is the flow of electrons
– electrons are negatively charged particles

• Certain materials, called semi-conductors, can

be adapted to release electrons when they are
exposed to light
• One of the more common materials is silicon
– Silicon is the main material in 98% of photovoltaic
cells made today
http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/
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The main parts of a photovoltaic cell are
two layers of a modified (doped) semi-
conductive material
• The N-Layer is blended with
phosphorous, making it rich in electrons
and negatively charged
• The P-Layer is blended with boron,
making it electron-poor leaving
positively-charged holes where
electrons can fit

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• At the junction of the N and P-layers is an
electrically neutral barrier
• This barrier makes it difficult for the extra
electrons of the N-layer to jump over to fill the
holes in the P-layer
• On the outside of the N and P-layers is
conductive material, which is connected
(wired) to an electrical load
• This creates a closed circuit and a current path
for the electrons to flow from the N-layer to
the P-layer
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 A photovoltaic cell

Protective glass Photons from the sun

Anti-reflective coat

Conductive mesh - Load

N-type silicon - - -

N/P junction P-type silicon - - -

-

Conductive backing

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• The conductive material on the N-layer side is
a mesh allowing sunlight to pass through
• When energy is added to a semi-conductive
material, such as silicone, it can cause
electrons to break free from their atoms
creating a hole

»In the case of a photovoltaic cell, energy

from the sun hits the electron-rich N-
layer in the form of light photons and
causes electrons to break free
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• If they are close enough to the P-layer, these
electrons can jump across the electrical field
and fill the P-layer's holes
• The resulting electrical imbalance encourages
these electrons to flow back to the N-layer
along our current path, generating electricity

»The greater the intensity of the light,

the greater the flow of electricity

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Theoretical Efficiency
• 100% efficiency is
achieved when exposed
to monochromic light
(left side of figure),
typically not the case
• Typically they are
exposed to the full
spectrum of light (right
side of figure)
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• When exposed to the full spectrum, there are
two mechanisms that will limit efficiency
– Photons that do not have enough energy to create
the electron-holes and just pass through creating
only heat
– Photons that have too much energy, creating
electron-holes too fast and are quickly dissipated
before generating any electric energy

• The efficiency is then the ratio of the load

power to the input power of the radiation
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• What are some
different types or
variations of
photovoltaic cells

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Spectrally Selective Beam Splitting
• As noted, depending on the material, only a
portion of the solar spectrum is used
• Therefore, when manufacturing the
photovoltaic converters, the broad-band solar
spectrum must be split into appropriate
sections with corresponding frequencies
• This can be accomplished in several different
ways including cascaded cells, filtered cells,
and holographic concentrators
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Cascaded cells are basically two photodiodes
with different band-gaps superimposed
• As the solar energy passes through the top
photodiode, the relevant band-gap is used
• The remaining spectrum passes through to
the next photodiode where a different
band-gap is used
• Conceptually, very simplified…
a solar spectrum sieve

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Filtered cells work in one of two different
methods
• Absorption, where sunlight passes through a
particular substance such as cobalt sulfate
which absorbs certain bands of the spectrum
allowing “usable” bands to pass through
• Interference, where different materials are
used to refract different parts of the spectrum
allowing only the specific band of the
spectrum needed

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Holographic concentrators are probably the
most attractive of the different devises
• These devises take the sunlight and split it
into separate bands and refocuses the
specific sections of the spectrum
• The photodiodes can then be mounted in
such a manner that the various photodiode
materials can align with the appropriate
section of the spectrum

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Thermo-photovoltaic Cells
• Another method of increasing
the efficiency of photovoltaic
converters is to recirculate
the photons that are not used
for electric generation for
heat
• This can be accomplished
several different ways

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• One method includes placing the photodiode
between a thermal radiator and a mirror
As the unused energy passes through the
photodiode, it is reflected back through to the
thermal radiator
• Another places a selective mirror between the
photodiode and a thermal radiator
As the energy passes through the selective
mirror, only the useable band-gap passes
through to the photodiode and the remaining is
reflected back to the thermal radiator

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Practical Efficiency
The actual efficiency of a photovoltaic
system is typically less than the ideal for
several reasons…
• One is the surface reflection, caused by
the change in the refractive index as the
light waves go from air to a somewhat
solid substance

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• The opacity of the current collectors not
allowing the full light source to penetrate the
semi-conductive materials

• Poor utilization of the available surface, some

photodiodes are produced as a circular wafer
which, when placed side by side, the use of
surface area is not very efficient

• The material used to make the diodes is not a

good conductor
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• The thinness of the cells
– When the cells are excessively thin, they fail to
react with the available light
– Material for the cells is very expensive and there
must be compromise between cost and thickness

• And the lifetime of the minority carriers, as

some of the electron holes are created too far
from the potential barrier to survive the
length of time needed to reach it by diffusion

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• How do you
determine the
amount of energy
achieved from a
photovoltaic cell

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Economics
• The obvious benefit of photovoltaic
converters is that the energy (solar) is
basically free
• This “free” sunlight though, is only
available at certain times of the day and
some days may be overcast
• The supply is not constant, therefore,
the cost associated with these systems is
for the converting and storage of energy
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• There are many different ways to look at the
cost of photovoltaic converters, which have
been coming down in price over the last few
years due to improvements in technology
• Related to cost is efficiency ranging from 5%
to 20% depending on the sophistication of
the system which affects the cost of the
system
• Beyond the cost of the system, there are
costs associated with installation and
maintenance
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• This cost is then compared to the benefit or
the energy obtained
• Since the solar energy is not constant, there
are times when there is excess energy
produced and times when no energy is
produced
• Depending on the type of system and local
utilities the excess power can be sold back to
local utility companies or used to offset utility
costs…This type of system would be referred
to as a utility-tie system
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With a utility-tie system…
there is a utility service inverter tied to the system
used to match the frequency and phase of generated
solar energy to the grid

http://internationalenergysolutions.com/index-2.html 29
• For areas that cannot be tied to a local utility,
a system referred to as an off-grid system
could be used which incorporates batteries
• Hybrids of these two
systems integrated
into the structure of
buildings, building-
integrated
photovoltaic (BIPV)
systems are becoming
very popular
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• These systems are typically placed on or as the
roof of a building creating a large surface area
• This system is more appealing to single story
buildings versus a several story complex and,
therefore, is more suited to residential
buildings
• One thing that must be considered is the peak
solar energy available which is dependent on
your location

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Different materials and techniques for building
the solar cells also have relevance to the cost
and return, three of which are…
1. Silicon
2. Amorphous thin films
3. And organic polymers which are still in the
early stages of development
* The organic polymers may be the best solution
showing promise to be light weight, flexible and
relatively low in cost leading to more applications
and thus better economics
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Energy potential
To roughly determine the amount of energy
from a photovoltaic system is relatively simple

You will need the following information

a. As with solar collectors, you need the “solar”
potential or energy production factor for your
area in kilowatt-hours per kilowatt-year
(kWh/kW-year)
b. And the size of the system in kilowatts (kW)

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The map below, from the U.S. Department of
Energy-Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy’s web site,
shows the energy
potential for
different regions
of the United
states in
kilowatt-hours
per kilowatt-year
(kWh/kW-year) http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_ho
me/electricity/index.cfm/mytopic=10860
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Looking at the Columbus, Ohio area, as
in the previous section, you see the
energy potential is around 1500
(kWh/kW-year)

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A photovoltaic system typically ranges in size
from 1 to 5 kW
The table below, from the California Energy Commission's Buying a
Photovoltaic Solar Electric System, Consumers Guide, 2003 edition, shows
various PV capacity ratings with the related roof area needed

Note: the (5) solar collectors used in the previous

section used a total roof area of 159 ft2
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To roughly determine the available power per
year (kWh/yr) of a photovoltaic system, you
simply multiply the energy production factor by
the system size

kWh/yr = energy prod. x system size

Where :
energy production factor is (kWh/kW-yr)
system size is (kW)
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Using the example from the previous unit…
Living in Columbus, Ohio, determine the
annual energy potential for a 2 kW
photovoltaic system

(kWh/yr) = energy prod. x system size

= 1500 x 2
= 3000 kWh/yr

Note: the (5) solar collectors used in the previous

section produced 7884 kWh/yr
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Comparing a similar sized roof area, 160 ft2, the
highest efficiency (16%) would be required

and from this you can assume cost to the high side,
$20,000 for a 2 kWh system, which produces less
than half the kWh/yr of the solar collectors

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• How about an
interesting
concept

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Solar-Power Satellite
• As we have learned, the idea of using
photovoltaic converters to generate
electricity is definitely a possibility…

But…they are dependent on the ability of a

given area to collect the solar energy

• Therefore, areas that do not receive large

amounts of continuous sunlight will not
find this technology as appealing as others
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The concept of a solar power satellite could
eliminate the concern for continuous sunlight
by placing the solar collectors into space
orbiting to receive constant solar energy

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As the orbiting solar collector absorbs the
energy, it can convert it and then transmit it
to collectors on Earth

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OR…
What if the same concept was
used on some kind of vessel
that traveled the Earth’s
surface so as to remain in
constant sunlight?
This vessel could then convert the
solar energy to electricity and
transmit it via satellites or other
means to various locations around
the rest of the Earth
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Work Cited
Da Rosa, A. V. (2005). Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes. Burlington, MA,
USA: Elsevier Inc.

http://sales.hamamatsu.com/assets/html/ssd/si-photodiode/index.htm

http://www.mrsunsolar.com/electricinfo.php

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