This work presents a theoretical and experimental transient tri-dimensional study conducted for the determination of the bulk component of the minority carrier lifetime and the p-n junction recombination velocity of a bifacial polycrystalline silicon solar cell. The theoretical analysis is based on the columnar model of the grains in the polycrystalline silicon solar cell. The boundaries conditions are defined in order to use Green's function to solve the three-dimensional diffusion equation. This leads to a new expression of the transient photovoltage. The value of the constraint coefficients at interfaces of the grain are computed while those of the effective minority carrier lifetime eff is extracted from the experimental curve of transient voltage. The bulk lifetime and the p-n junction recombination velocity are deduced and have been compared to those obtained from transient state by one-dimensional modelling of carrier's diffusion. This comparative study permitted us to show grain effects on the lifetime and consequently the inadequacy of one-dimensional modelling of carrier's diffusion in the polycrystalline silicon solar cells.
The mean cost price of electricity in Burkina Faso at the end of the last quarter of 2012 was 158 FCFA/kWh for a country where more than 46% of the population lives below the national poverty threshold. To look for solution to that problem, the resort to photovoltaic solar energy is justified for that country. The purpose of this study is to promote the integration of both technical and economical surveys in solar energy preliminary projects in Ouagadougou. To reach that, investigations were carried out in some households and attention was paid from the calibration of the domestic electric meters. Energy demands collected within each household allow us to design a corresponding solar kit through optimization rules. An estimate was edited and financial viability study for each household was also carried out thereafter. In this study, only households using the national electricity network calibration meter on their disadvantage favorably answered to all financial indicators and appear as the only one that could profit from such project. This work is helpful to note that photovoltaic solar energy still stays at a primitive level of competitiveness compared to conventional energy resources for small systems in Ouagadougou.
The environmental and economical merits of converting solar energy into electricity via photovoltaic cells have caused an ever increasing interest among developed and developing countries to allocate more budget on photovoltaic systems in order to boost up their efficiency in recent years. Besides the material and design parameters, there are several external factors such as magnetic field, air mass, intense light, external electric field, solar spectrum…. that can influence the PV cell's performance. There have been a handful of studies conducted on the effect of various influential parameters on the efficiency and performance of photovoltaic cells; however none has taken these two parameters (magnetic field and air mass) into account simultaneously. In this 3D study the effects of magnetic field and the air mass illumination on space charge region width extension of a bifacial polycristalline solar cell front side illumination will be elaborated. Based on the columnar model of the grain and the quasi-neutral base, the continuity equation is established and the boundaries conditions are defined in order to use Green's functions to solve this equation. New analytical expression of charge carriers' density is found and the diffusion capacitance to the junction is calculated. The normalized carriers' density plot versus base depth and magnetic field with various air mass illumination are presented and analyzed. The effects of magnetic field and air mass illumination on space charge region width extension are then deducted. The influences of magnetic field and air mass illumination on the junction capacitance and on the reverse of junction capacitance are also shown and analyzed.
This paper presents a theoretical study of the external magnetic field and the air mass effects on the carrier density, the transient open circuit voltage decay and the effective minority carrier's lifetime in a polycrystalline silicon solar cell. From a theoretical approach based on the columnar model of the grains and the quasi-neutral base, the three-dimensional diffusion equation is established and the boundaries conditions are defined in order to use Green's functions to solve this equation. New analytical expressions of carrier's density and transient voltage are also found. The magnetic field and the air mass impacts on transient electrons density and transient open circuit voltage are then analyzed. The effective minority carrier lifetime is extracted from the curve versus time of transient open circuit voltage decay for different values of magnetic field and air mass.
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