Electrical Performance Study of a Large Area Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cell Using a Current Shunt and a Micropotentiometer

In this paper, a new technique using a Current Shunt and a Micropotentiometer has been used to study the electrical performance of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell at outdoor conditions. The electrical performance is mainly described by measuring both cell short circuit current and open circuit voltage. The measurements of this cell by using multimeters suffer from some problems because the cell has high current intensity with low output voltage. So, the solar cell short circuit current values are obtained by measuring the voltage developed across a known resistance Current Shunt. Samples of the obtained current values are accurately calibrated by using a Micropotentiometer (μpot) thermal element (TE) to validate this new measuring technique. Moreover, the solar cell open circuit voltage has been measured. Besides, the cell output power has been calculated and can be correlated with the measured incident radiation.

Temperature Effects on the Electrical Performance of Large Area Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells Using the Current Shunt Measuring Technique

The temperature effects on the electrical performance of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell with back-contact technology have been studied in a desert area under ambient conditions using the current shunt measuring technique. Therefore, most of the problems encountered with traditional measuring techniques are avoided. The temperature dependency of the current shunt from 5oC up to 50oC has been investigated. Its temperature coefficient proves to be negligible which means that the temperature dependency of the solar cell is completely independent of the current shunt. The solar module installed in a tilted position at the optimum angle of the location, has been tested in two different seasons (winter and summer). The obtained solar cell short circuit current, open circuit voltage and output power are correlated with the measured incident radiation in both seasons and all results are discussed.

Electromagnetic characteristics of square cold crucible designed for silicon preparation

In the present work,the strength and distribution of electromagnetic field in the square cold crucible that designed for casting multicrystalline silicon were measured and analyzed by using a small coil method.The results show that in the perpendicular direction the maximum of magnetic flux density(B) appears at the position slightly above the middle of the coil,and then B attenuates toward both sides,and decreases more to the bottom of the crucible.In the horizontal direction,from the edge(corner) to the center,B firstly decreases gradually,and then slightly increases in the center.While along the inner sides of the crucible,the distribution is relatively uniform,especially in the effective acting range.B increases with the increasing of the input power.Moving the coil to the top of the crucible,B increases and the effective acting range of the electromagnetic field becomes bigger.For the coils with different turns,the five turns coil can induce the highest magnetic flux density.

Investigation on Open-Circuit Voltage of an Efficiency-Boosting Solar Cell Technique Featuring V-Configuration

The V-Shaped Module (VSM) solar cell technology, which breaks the traditional concept of solar cell system, has been proven to enhance power conversion efficiency of some solar cells and has offered opportunities to increase generation power densities in area-limited applications. Compared to a planar cell system, the VSM has an additional opportunity to absorb photons and taps the potential of solar cells. In this study, the VSM, the proposed common technique enhancing efficiencies of various solar cells, was investigated by using commercially available multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. The VSM technique enables the efficiencies of the multi-crystalline silicon cells to increase from 13.4% to 20.2%, giving an efficiency boost of 51%. Though the efficiency of the cells increases, the open-circuit voltage of the cells decreases owing to the VSM technique. Furthermore, the obvious reduction in open-circuit voltage in the VSM was found and the phenomenon is explained for the first time.