Influence of Water Turbidity Upon the Solar Radiation and Photovoltaic Response of Amorphous Silicon Based Underwater Solar Cells

Abstract

To meet global energy demand, photovoltaic (PV) energy technologies should be rescaled and upgraded. A facile way is to head towards underwater PVs to create stable and reliable renewable energy sources in the aquatic regime. Current work comprehends an experimental study on the behavior of solar radiation and the performance of amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cell in diverse underwater conditions. The main focus of the study is to investigate the impact of water turbidity on insolation power and device performance at various depths. Both the irradiance power and the cell performance showed an inverse correlation with the water turbidity. The turbidity values for the lowest turbid double distilled water (DDW), low turbid lake water (LTLW), and high turbid lake water (HTLW) were measured to be 0.1 NTU, 2.5 NTU, and 6.6 NTU respectively. Also, a percentage drop in solar irradiance at a depth of 20 cm for different water types was captured.