Evaluation and Validation of Equivalent Circuit Photovoltaic Solar Cell Performance Models

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Boyd ◽  
Sanford A. Klein ◽  
Douglas T. Reindl ◽  
Brian P. Dougherty
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Equivalent Circuit ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Band Gap Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Electrical Circuit ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Current Output ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Wide Range

The “five-parameter model” is a performance model for photovoltaic solar cells that predicts the voltage and current output by representing the cells as an equivalent electrical circuit with radiation and temperature-dependent components. An important feature of the five-parameter model is that its parameters can be determined using data commonly provided by module manufacturers on their published datasheets. This paper documents the predictive capability of the five-parameter model and proposes modifications to improve its performance using approximately 30 days of field-measured meteorological and module data from a wide range of cell technologies, including monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous silicon, and copper indium diselenide (CIS). The standard five-parameter model is capable of predicting the performance of monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon modules within approximately 6% RMS but is slightly less accurate for a thin-film CIS and an amorphous silicon array. Errors for the amorphous technology are reduced to approximately 5% RMS by using input data obtained after the module underwent an initial degradation in output due to aging. The robustness and possible improvements to the five-parameter model were also evaluated. A sensitivity analysis of the five-parameter model shows that all model inputs that are difficult to determine and not provided by manufacturer datasheets such as the glazing material properties, the semiconductor band gap energy, and the ground reflectance may be represented by approximate values independent of the PV technology. Modifications to the five-parameter model tested during this research did not appreciably improve the overall model performance. Additional dependence introduced by a seven-parameter model had a less than 1% RMS effect on maximum power predictions for the amorphous technology and increased the modeling errors for this array 4% RMS at open-circuit conditions. Adding a current sink to the equivalent circuit to better model recombination currents had little effect on the model behavior.

scholarly journals A Direct-Steam Linear Fresnel Performance Model for NREL’S System Advisor Model

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Wagner ◽  
Guangdong Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Heat Loss ◽  
Mathematical Formulation ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Steam Generation ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Direct Steam ◽  
Solar Field

This paper presents the technical formulation and demonstrated model performance results of a new direct-steam-generation (DSG) model in NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM). The model predicts the annual electricity production of a wide range of system configurations within the DSG Linear Fresnel technology by modeling hourly performance of the plant in detail. The quasi-steady-state formulation allows users to investigate energy and mass flows, operating temperatures, and pressure drops for geometries and solar field configurations of interest. The model includes tools for heat loss calculation using either empirical polynomial heat loss curves as a function of steam temperature, ambient temperature, and wind velocity, or a detailed evacuated tube receiver heat loss model. Thermal losses are evaluated using a computationally efficient nodal approach, where the solar field and headers are discretized into multiple nodes where heat losses, thermal inertia, steam conditions (including pressure, temperature, enthalpy, etc.) are individually evaluated during each time step of the simulation. This paper discusses the mathematical formulation for the solar field model and describes how the solar field is integrated with the other subsystem models, including the power cycle and optional auxiliary fossil system. Model results are also presented to demonstrate plant behavior in the various operating modes.

scholarly journals Design and Simulation of InGaNp-nJunction Solar Cell

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mesrane ◽  
F. Rahmoune ◽  
A. Mahrane ◽  
A. Oulebsir
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Surface Recombination ◽  
Minority Carrier Lifetime ◽  
Band Gap Energy ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Surface Recombination Velocity ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Single Junction ◽  
Suitable Material ◽  
Wide Range

The tunability of the InGaN band gap energy over a wide range provides a good spectral match to sunlight, making it a suitable material for photovoltaic solar cells. The main objective of this work is to design and simulate the optimal InGaN single-junction solar cell. For more accurate results and best configuration, the optical properties and the physical models such as the Fermi-Dirac statistics, Auger and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, and the doping and temperature-dependent mobility model were taken into account in simulations. The single-junction In0.622Ga0.378N (Eg = 1.39 eV) solar cell is the optimal structure found. It exhibits, under normalized conditions (AM1.5G, 0.1 W/cm2, and 300 K), the following electrical parameters:Jsc=32.6791 mA/cm2,Voc=0.94091volts, FF = 86.2343%, andη=26.5056%. It was noticed that the minority carrier lifetime and the surface recombination velocity have an important effect on the solar cell performance. Furthermore, the investigation results show that the In0.622Ga0.378N solar cell efficiency was inversely proportional with the temperature.

Stability Studies of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Alloy Solar Cells Prepared with Hydrogen Dilution

1994 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Yang ◽  
X. Xu ◽  
S. Guha
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Deposition Temperature ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Silicon Alloy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Photovoltaic Characteristics ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTWe have fabricated hydrogenated amorphous silicon alloy solar cells using hydrogen dilutions at 175 °C and 300 °C, and obtained improved photovoltaic characteristics in both the initial and degraded states for the highly diluted cells; both the fill factor and the open-circuit voltage exhibit higher values before and after light soaking. Infrared analyses reveal that for a given deposition temperature the amount of bonded hydrogen has similar concentrations between the high and low hydrogen diluted samples. Optical Modelling shows a 20 MeV difference in their optical bandgap. Defect densities obtained from constant photocurrent measurements give similar values for a given deposition temperature both before and after light soaking, inconsistent with solar cell performance.

scholarly journals Ionic properties of the acetylcholine receptor in cultured rat myotubes.

1975 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 751-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
A K Ritchie ◽  
D M Fambrough
Keyword(s):  
Equivalent Circuit ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Electrical Circuit ◽  
Frog Muscle ◽  
Constant Field ◽  
Adult Rat ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Goldman Equation ◽  
Alpha Bungarotoxin ◽  
External Ph

The acetylcholine reversal potential (Er) of cultured rat myotubes is -3mV. When activated, the receptor is permeable to K+ and Na+, but not to Cl- ions. Measurement of Er in Tris+-substituted, Na-free medium also indicated a permeability to Tris+ ions. Unlike adult frog muscle the magnitude of Er was insensitive to change in external Ca++ (up to 30 mM) or to changes in external pH (between 6.4 and 8.9). The equivalent circuit equation describing the electrical circuit composed of two parallel ionic batteries (EK and ENa) and their respective conductances (gK and gNa), which has been generally useful in describing the Er of adult rat and frog muscle, could also be applied to rat myotubes when Er was measured over a wide range of external Na+ concentrations. The equivalent circuit equation could not be applied to myotubes bathed in media of different external K+ concentrations. In this case, the Er was more closely described by the Goldman constant field equation. Under certain circumstances, it is known that the receptor in adult rat and frog muscle can be induced to reversibly shift from behavior described by the equivalent circuit equation to that described by the Goldman equation. Attempts to similarly manipulate the responses of cultured rat myotubes were unsussessful. These trials included a reduction in temperature (15 degress C), partial alpha-bungarotoxin blodkade, and activation of responses with the cholinergic agonist, decamethonium.

Equivalent-circuit Modeling of Microcrystalline Silicon pin Solar Cells prepared over a Wide Range of Absorber-layer Compositions

2010 ◽  
Vol 1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Reynolds ◽  
Vladimir Smirnov
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Equivalent Circuit ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Crystalline Region ◽  
Photovoltaic Properties ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Low Crystalline

AbstractAn equivalent-circuit electrical model is used to simulate the photovoltaic properties of mixed-phase thin-film silicon solar cells. Microcrystalline and amorphous phases are represented as separate parallel-connected photodiode equivalent circuits, scaled by assuming that the photodiode area is directly proportional to the volume fraction of each phase. A reasonable correspondence between experiment and simulation is obtained for short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage vs. volume fraction. However the large dip in fill-factor and reduced PV efficiency measured for cells prepared in the low-crystalline region is inadequately reproduced. It is concluded that poor PV performance in this region is not due solely to shunting by more highly-crystalline filaments, which supports the view that the low-crystalline material has transport properties inferior to either microcrystalline or amorphous silicon.

Use of Transparent Conductive Oxide Materials with Low Indices of Refraction in Amorphous Silicon-Based Solar Cell Technology

2005 ◽  
Vol 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Jones ◽  
Joachim Doehler ◽  
Tongyu Liu ◽  
David Tsu ◽  
Jeff Steele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Transparent Conductive Oxide ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Back Reflectors ◽  
Stability Issues ◽  
Silicon Based ◽  
Solar Cell Technology

AbstractNew types of transparent conductive oxides with low indices of refraction have been developed for use in optical stacks for the amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cell and other thin film applications. The alloys are ZnO based with Si and MgF added to reduce the index of the materials through the creation of SiO2 or MgF2, with n=1.3-1.4, or the addition of voids in the materials. Alloys with 12-14% Si or Mg have indices of refraction at λ=800nm between 1.6 and 1.7. These materials are presently being used in optical stacks to enhance light scattering by Al/multi-layer/ZnO back reflectors in a-Si based solar cells to increase light absorption in the semiconductor layers and increase open circuit currents and boost device efficiencies. In contrast to Ag/ZnO back reflectors which have long term stability issues due to electromigration of Ag, these Al based back reflectors should be stable and usable in manufactured PV products. In this manuscript, structural properties for the materials will be reported as well as the performance of solar cell devices made using these new types of materials.

17.8%-efficient Amorphous Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells on p-type Silicon Wafers

2006 ◽  
Vol 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Wang ◽  
Matt P. Page ◽  
Eugene Iwancizko ◽  
Yueqin Xu ◽  
Yanfa Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Layer Growth ◽  
Surface Recombination Velocity ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
P Type

AbstractWe have achieved an independently-confirmed 17.8% conversion efficiency in a 1-cm2, p-type, float-zone silicon (FZ-Si) based heterojunction solar cell. Both the front emitter and back contact are hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD). This is the highest reported efficiency for a HWCVD silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. Two main improvements lead to our most recent increases in efficiency: 1) the use of textured Si wafers, and 2) the application of a-Si:H heterojunctions on both sides of the cell. Despite the use of textured c-Si to increase the short-circuit current, we were able to maintain the same 0.65 V open-circuit voltage as on flat c-Si. This is achieved by coating a-Si:H conformally on the c-Si surfaces, including covering the tips of the anisotropically-etched pyramids. A brief atomic H treatment before emitter deposition is not necessary on the textured wafers, though it was helpful in the flat wafers. It is essential to high efficiency SHJ solar cells that the emitter grows abruptly as amorphous silicon, instead of as microcrystalline or epitaxial Si. The contact on each side of the cell comprises a thin (< 5 nm) low substrate temperature (~100°C) intrinsic a-Si:H layer, followed by a doped layer. Our intrinsic layers are deposited at 0.3-1.2 nm/s. The doped emitter and back-contact layers were deposited at a higher temperature (>200°C) and grown from PH3/SiH4/H2 and B2H6/SiH4/H2 doping gas mixtures, respectively. This combination of low (intrinsic) and high (doped layer) growth temperatures was optimized by lifetime and surface recombination velocity measurements. Our rapid efficiency advance suggests that HWCVD may have advantages over plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD in fabrication of high-efficiency heterojunction c-Si cells; there is no need for process optimization to avoid plasma damage to the delicate, high-quality, Si wafers.

Annealing Kinetics of Amorphous Silicon Alloy Solar Cells Made at Various Deposition Rates

2001 ◽  
Vol 664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojie Yana ◽  
Jeffrey Yanga ◽  
Kenneth Lord ◽  
Subhendu Guha
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Defect Density ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Kinetics Of ◽  
Very High

ABSTRACTA systematic study has been made of the annealing kinetics of amorphous silicon (a-Si) alloy solar cells. The cells were deposited at various rates using H2 dilution with radio frequency (RF) and modified very high frequency (MVHF) glow discharge. In order to minimize the effect of annealing during light soaking, the solar cells were degraded under 30 suns at room temperature to quickly reach their saturated states. The samples were then annealed at an elevated temperature. The J-V characteristics were recorded as a function of annealing time. The correlation of solar cell performance and defect density in the intrinsic layer was obtained by computer simulation. Finally, the annealing activation energy distribution (Ea) was deduced by fitting the experimental data to a theoretical model. The results show that the RF low rate solar cell with high H2 dilution has the lowest Ea and the narrowest distribution, while the RF cell with no H2 dilution has the highest Ea and the broadest distribution. The MVHF cell made at 8Å/s withhigh H2 dilution shows a lower Ea and a narrower distribution than the RF cell made at 3 Å/s, despite the higher rate. We conclude that different annealing kinetics plays an important role in determining the stabilized performance of a-Si alloy solar cells.

scholarly journals Understanding Photovoltaic Cell Dynamic Resistance Behavior with Changing Incident Light Intensity - draftv1.pdf

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO J. GARCIA-SANCHEZ
Keyword(s):  
Equivalent Circuit ◽  
Cell Model ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Incident Light ◽  
Photovoltaic Cell ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Photovoltaic Device ◽  
Dynamic Resistance ◽  
Analytic Expressions ◽  
Static Conditions

A theoretical examination of the general behavior that should be expected to be displayed by the magnitude of the dynamic resistance of a conventional illuminated photovoltaic device within the power-generating quadrant of its <i>I-V</i> characteristics, when measured in quasi-static conditions from the short-circuit point to the open-circuit point, at various incident illumination intensities. The analysis is based on assuming that the photovoltaic device in question may be adequately described by a simple conventional d-c lumped-element single-diode equivalent circuit solar cell model, which includes significant constant series and shunt resistive losses, but lacks any other secondary effects. Using explicit analytic expressions for the dynamic resistance, we elucidate how its magnitude changes as a function of the terminal variables, the incident illumination intensity and the model’s equivalent circuit elements’ parameters.

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