4713 IV Curve | PVEducation

wwwpveducationorgpvcdromsolar-cell-operationiv-curve 11

lt The photovoltaic effect Short-Circuit Current gt

Dark Saturation Current I0 = 1e-10 A

Light Generated Current IL = 05 A

Ideality Factor n = 1

Temperature T = 300 K

Voltage V = 05 V

Current A = 04753 A

lt The photovoltaic effect Short-Circuit Current gt

IV Curve

The IV curve of a solar cell is the superposition of the IV curve of the solar cell diode in the dark with the light-

generated current The light has the effect of shifting the IV curve down into the fourth quadrant where power

can be extracted from the diode Illuminating a cell adds to the normal dark currents in the diode so that the

diode law becomes

where IL = light generated current

The effect of light on the current-voltage characteristics of a p-junction

The equation for the IV curve in the first quadrant is

The -1 term in the above equation can usually be neglected The exponential term is usually gtgt 1 except for

voltages below 100 mV Further at low voltages the light generated current IL dominates the I0 () term so the -1

term is not needed under illumination

Light Biased IV Curve Calculator

Several important parameters which are used to characterise solar cells are discussed in the following pages The

short-circuit current (ISC) the open-circuit voltage (VOC) the fill factor (FF) and the efficiency are all parameters

determined from the IV curve

Christiana Honsbergand Stuart Bowden

Instructions

1 Introduction

2 Properties of Sunlight

3 PN Junction

4 Solar Cell OperationIdeal Solar CellsSolar Cell StructureLight Generated CurrentCollection ProbabilityQuantum EfficiencySpectral ResponseThe Photovoltaic Effect

Solar Cell ParametersIV CurveShort-Circuit CurrentOpen-Circuit VoltageFill FactorEfficiencyDetailed BalanceTandem Cells

Resistive EffectsCharacteristic ResistanceEffect of Parasitic ResistancesSeries ResistanceShunt Resistance

Other EffectsImpact of Both Series andShunt ResistanceEffect of TemperatureEffect of Light IntensityIdeality FactorChapter 4 Quiz

5 Design of Silicon Cells

6 Manufacturing Si Cells

7 Modules and Arrays

8 Characterization

9 Material Properties

AppendiciesKorean Version

Search

Home Courses Instructions Contact Login

1

I = minus [exp( )]IL I0qV

nkT

Lindholm FA Fossum JG Burgess EL Application of the superposition principle to solar-cell analysis IEEE Transactions on

Electron Devices 197926165ndash171

1

[ + ] Feedback