Questions tagged [solar-cells]
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Doubt about the working principle of a silicon solar cell
I'm studying crystalline solar cell and their working principle, but I still don't completely understand the process.
First of all, I understand that we dope a pure crystalline silicon with boron and ...
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Would be possible to cover all the deserts with solar plates and satisfy the demand of electricity?
if we covered all the deserts with solar plates , would that be the solution to the energy crisis ?
i mean put a solar plates in ALL the deserts of the earth to harvest all solar power
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Is it possible to relate the usage of types silicon in a solar cell to a phase diagram of doped Silicon? (Si-P, Si-B)
With reading this post (Why do we need pure silicon for a solar cell to be efficient?) I am seeing these new concepts I never thought were in a solar cell. With bare minimum google searches I thought ...
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Why do we need pure silicon for a solar cell to be efficient?
Why is it that we need ~99% pure silicon in order to have efficient solar cells? I understand that as silicon purity decreases so does solar cell efficiency but I'd like to understand why.
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Intrinsic carrier concentration and bandgap
My understanding is that the intrinsic carrier concentration of a wide bandgap material tends to be lower than that of a narrow bandgap material.
$$ n_i = \left(N_cN_v\right)^{1/2}e^{\left(\frac{-E_g}...
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How can one determine the key characteristics of a solar cell from the $I$-$V$ curve?
I have recently measured the $I$-$V$ characteristics of several $\rm Si$ solar cell samples and am now attempting to extract the series resistance $R_S$; parallel resistance $R_P$; open circuit ...
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True efficiency of an ordinary photovoltaic cell
While learning about antimatter and the conservation of energy, I found that fission reactions convert about 0.1% of mass into energy, fusion reactions convert about 0.7%. I also found a similar ...
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Convert $\rm Lux$ to $\rm W/m^2$
I use four LED matrix (UV, green, red, blue) to irradiate a solar panel with an area of S at a distance. The matrix is located at a distance l from the solar panel. I want to plot the volt-ampere ...
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What does it mean if the resistance of a semiconductor increases due to light?
I have synthesized an $n$-type semiconductor material $\text{ZnO}$. Under light illumination, its resistance keeps increasing. What are the reasons for this?
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What is up and down conversion in photonics?
I have heard the terms up and down conversion in photonics/photovoltaics articles. What do the terms mean?
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What is the major challenge in building a hybrid solar panel that uses both PE and PV effects?
In the current times, I see that most solar panels work fully on 'photo voltaic' effect (visible light -> semiconductor). The manufacturers even ensure to block UV as much as possible to increase ...
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Why did PV cell manufacturing move away from having all of the contacts in the lower end of a PV cell?
In modern day PV cells you usually have a silver-based grid on the upper end of the cell where it's exposed to the sun creating the optimization game of how thin/thick you can make your busbars and ...
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Infrared solar pannels and thermodynamics
I was wondering if we could use background radiation to produce electricity (even a tiny amount). However, I've read somewhere that solar panels absorbing infrared (and lower frequencies photons) ...
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Is plant photosynthesis more efficient than solar panels?
Is photosynthesis more efficient than solar panels? If so, by how much?
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How hot can the focal point of a convex lens get under the full sun?
I could not find accurate data online apart from CSP power generators that could focus sun rays to a single point and heat a liquid to 1000°C.
I imagine many factors can affect the temperature, such ...
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What happens to the Fermi level of a metal/semiconductor under bias?
When a metal/semiconductor junction is placed under bias, the Fermi level of the semiconductor shifts horizontally up or down increasing or decreasing the potential barrier. I was wondering if this is ...
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$V$-$I$ characteristic of a solar cell
please explain the VI characteristics of a solar cell. The characteristics is given in my book without any explanation. How can the Voltage decrease on increasing current shouldn't it be opposite.
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Mott dengerate semiconductor as absorber in solar cell
Does dengerate semiconductor—which met the Mott criterion—serve any purpose as an absorber for the photovoltaic effect in solar cell applications?
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Barrier layer photovoltaic effect (BLPVE) and Bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE)
Ferroelectric materials typically exhibit the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE). My question is that if a material taken as an absorber in a device which works on barrier layer photovoltaic effect (...
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Shockley-Queisser limit calculations
I am working through the paper, Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p-n Junction Solar Cells by Shockley & Queisser, for my own research with perovskite solar cells.
I am able to follow their ...
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What is the physical explanation behind the decrease of open circuit voltage as temperature increases in an amorphous solar PV cell?
I have researched and looked at several papers describing the effect of temperature on the $I_{sc}$ and $V_{OC}$, and seen many numerical explanations as to why the voltage drops, with reference to I-...
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Difference between photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes
I'd say I'm quite aware of how avalanche photodiodes work but I'm unsure of how usual photodiodes work respectively how they differ from each other.
Let's bring it down to: APDs are able to detect ...
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On a PV cell, why do electrons travel through the copper rather than through the PN junction?
thank you all for reading me!
I am currently reviewing the structure and working principles of a PV cell. I think I understand the following steps about how the PN junction is formed and what happens ...
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Underdamped and overdamped molecular vibrations
I am reading about the interactions between excitons and phonons in this article, and I came across the following equation for the underdamped component of the spectral density of the vibrational bath:...
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Exciton transport in a molecular chain
I'm currently reading this article about exciton transport across a chain of tightly bonded molecules each coupled to an intramolecular vibration of frequency $\omega_0$. It says that the Hamiltonian ...
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Does incoming light polarization and phase effect the efficiency of photovoltaic cells?
As I understand it, standard photovoltaic cells depend on both the creation of electron-hole pairs and those pairs being created in the depletion zone in a P-N junction.
Is seems like the production ...
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Why/If Cadmium Compounds are Used In Electronics Related to Light
So I've noticed that cadmium compounds show up quite a bit in electronics related to light. For example, cadmium telluride is apparently the most used material in solar panels aside from silicon. In ...
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How to measure spectral irradiance vs wavelength for sunlight?
I am currently working on a project where I need to measure the spectral irradiance over a submerged solar panel at different depths of water. But I do not really know what can be used to measure it. ...
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Solar panel frequency range
What is a solar panel's frequency range (i.e. from THz to THz)? Is there a way to capture energy that exceeds that frequency range, either more towards IR or UV? If so, you could produce energy from ...
Buzz♦
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In a photovoltaic effect, when the electron absorbes the photon, is the electron's energy displaced?
I'm a super amateur wannabe physicist, and I'm trying to learn the fundamental workings of the photovoltaic effect.
I haven't been able to understand "how" or "what" is displaced/...
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Indirect Bandgap Semiconductors vs Direct Bandgap Semiconductors
I have been looking into the foundational theory of solar cells, as a high school student. Due to this, a lot of the stereochemical and physical understanding I would need to specialise here ...
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By what maximum amount can we concentrate sunlight?
This refers to a previous question re: Solar Cell Systems and as part of the answer the statement:
If we concentrated sunlight to [the] maximum amount 42600× was given.
My questions are:
By what ...
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What method of collecting concentrated solar energy is most suitable for a Dyson swarm?
A Dyson swarm is a collection of solar collector satellites around a star, capturing the majority of its light. Each solar collector is essentially a mirror. Each group of solar collector satellites - ...
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Is it possible to boost solar panel output using wavelength shifting materials?
Solar panels only produce energy from a small section of the total wavelength spectrum of light. I believe some panels have a mirrored back to pass light through the solar panel a second time. Much of ...
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Energy production of solar panels in space with received light [closed]
If there were 47.1% efficient solar panels (the MJ concentrator cells created by the NREL) in space where there is no atmosphere, I want them to generate as much power as possible, so I would like to ...
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Is silicon a semiconductor or insulator?
I have read that pure crystalline silicon is an insulator because it has a such covalent bond that very tight and no free electrons available for conduction bands. They all are bonded with other ...
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Where is the excess energy going to when a solar inverter is operating a photovoltaic (PV) panel away from the maximum power point (MPP)?
The MPP is the maximum power point of a solar panel and a PV inverter will typically try to find this MPP to yield the maximum energy ouput.
But sometimes it might be neccessary to operate the panel ...
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Do solar panels generate more electricity at higher altitudes?
The atmosphere is thinner at higher altitudes, so do solar panels get more energy from the sun?
Does the cold help or hinder their performance?
Is a solar panel in space with no atmosphere is the ...
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The tilting of solar cells and their efficiency
This is a thought experiment I am considering. It concerns putting solar panels on a flat roof. The question is whether one should tilt them. Whilst there are more mundane reasons for tilting them (eg ...
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Antireflection coating: does reflection that destructively interferes lead to more transmitted light?
I was watching some media on how solar cells work, and the description of the antireflective coating confused me.
According to this video and this Physics Asylum video, the antireflection coating is ...
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Why are most solar panel rated at 12 volts or 24 volts? [closed]
Most solar panel come in 12 volts or 24 volts, why?
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Does a UV flashlight work to excite a solar panel to generate current in the same way natural sunlight would?
So I wanted to show some young kids solar panels. In the sunlight they work great, but obviously inside they won't work.
I wanted to ask if I bought an UV flashlight from amazon like here would this ...
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Will the heat generated from solar panel electricity eventually generate wind energy?
I'm curious about limits for extracting solar energy, but I never studied this stuff so I'm going to speculate a lot.
My first question deals with the things like wind energy. I assume this energy is ...
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What is the ideal amount of shade for a house with air conditioning and solar cells on the roof? [closed]
Considering a mid latitude (e.g. in Virginia), south facing, single family house with two stories, AC cooling and solar power on the roof:
What would be the ideal level / amount of shade for the house ...
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Possibility of combining photovoltaics and solar thermal energy
In a private setting, photovoltaics and solar thermal energy are often harvested on the home's roof and roof area is limited. So, I thought about combining both, i.e. mounting solar collectors ...
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Why are solar panels kept tilted?
I have noticed that, in my country India, most of the solar panels are tilted southward at an angle of ${45}^{\circ} .$ Even on buildings with inverted V-shaped roofs, solar panels are still oriented ...
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Does doped semiconductor have free electrons at 0K?
For intrinsic semiconductors, they don't have any free electrons at conduction band at 0k and behave like insulators. But if doped, let's say n-type doped, they will have extra electrons which do not ...
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Maximum solar power on moon [closed]
What is the maximum power that could be generated by covering the moon in solar panels?
Assume the entire lunar surface is covered and that the currently most efficient solar panels are used.
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Bimolecular recombination: How can it be non-radiative for $e$-$p$ pair?
I have understood that the bimolecular recombination of electrons and holes can be radiative when they meet each other,
However, I also heard that there are defect sites that can accept electrons and ...
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Where does the electricity, generated by a solar panel, go if you don't use the electricity?
I'm sorry if this question is too trivial for this Q&A forum. I am a layman when it comes to physics (though I did cover the high-school physics courses).
I was wondering what happens to the ...
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