Influence of a Semiconductor Gap’s Energy on the Electrical Parameters of a Parallel Vertical Junction Photocell

Nfally Dieme

doi:10.4236/epe.2015.75020

Abstract

The present work is a theoretical study on a parallel vertical junction solar cell under a multi-spectral illumination in static regime. The density of the minority charge carriers was determined based on the diffusion equation. Photocurrent and photovoltage are deducted from such density. All these parameters are studied taking into account the influence of the gap energy (Eg).

Highlights

The operation of solar cells is basically dependent on photon-electron interaction
Knowing the evolution of these two quantities based on the gap energy is a good indicator for us to comment on the performance of solar cells and types of semiconductors for use in the manufacture of solar cells able to run at high temperature
In the simulation carried out in this work, we have demonstrated that the electric quantities of a solar cell such as photovoltage and photocurrent are very sensitive to the variation of a material’s gap energy

Summary

Introduction

The operation of solar cells is basically dependent on photon-electron interaction. For an electron to be removed from the valence stripe to the conduction, the minimum value of the photon energy must at least equal Eg. The gap energy (Eg) is determined by the material and fluctuates according to temperature [1]. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of gap energy (Eg) on electrical parameters such as photocurrent and photovoltage. Knowing the evolution of these two quantities based on the gap energy is a good indicator for us to comment on the performance of solar cells and types of semiconductors for use in the manufacture of solar cells able to run at high temperature. The density of excess minority carriers, photocurrent and photovoltage will be determined from the diffusion equations. In the second part of this work we present our simulation results

Objectives

Results

Conclusion