Intensity of light incident equation series#

As losses due to short-circuit current depend on the square of the current, power loss due to series resistance increases as the square of the concentration. The efficiency benefits of concentration may be reduced by increased losses in series resistance as the short-circuit current increases and also by the increased temperature operation of the solar cell. The cost of a concentrating PV system may be lower than a corresponding flat-plate PV system since only a small area of solar cells is needed. Where X is the concentration of sunlight.įrom the equation above, a doubling of the light intensity (X=2) causes a 18 mV rise in V OC. Therefore, under concentration, V oc increases logarithmically with light intensity, as shown in the equation below

Instead, the efficiency benefits arise from the logarithmic dependence of the open-circuit voltage on short circuit. However, this effect does not provide an efficiency increase, since the incident power also increases linearly with concentration. The short-circuit current from a solar cell depends linearly on light intensity, such that a device operating under 10 suns would have 10 times the short-circuit current as the same device under one sun operation. Concentrators have several potential advantages, including a higher efficiency potential than a one-sun solar cell and the possibility of lower cost. The incident sunlight is focused or guided by optical elements such that a high intensity light beam shines on a small solar cell. ConcentratorsĪ concentrator is a solar cell designed to operate under illumination greater than 1 sun. The series resistance has a greater effect on performance at high intensity and the shunt resistance has a greater effect on cell performance at low light intensity.

The effect of concentration on the IV characteristics of a solar cell.

Intensity of light incident equation