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

Hala Mohamed Abdel Mageed

doi:10.4236/engineering.2010.211112

Abstract

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.

Highlights

It is known that photovoltaic devices such as solar cells generate electrical current when photons with sufficient energy penetrate the semiconductor and excite electrons into the conduction band [1]
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
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

Summary

Introduction

It is known that photovoltaic devices such as solar cells generate electrical current when photons with sufficient energy penetrate the semiconductor and excite electrons into the conduction band [1]. The calibrated (Holt HCS-1) current shunt 20 Ampere range was used to study the temperature effects on the electrical performance of large solar cell with back-contact technology. It was tested under different temperatures ranging from 5oC to 50oC in a temperature test chamber to evaluate its temperature coefficient effect on its characteristics. The 20 Ampere range current shunt shown in Figure 2 was preferably used to measure the high short circuit current (ISC) of our tested solar cell This shunt resistor has a coaxial design; where, the resistor being a web of wire arranged coaxially about the axis of the shunt. In order to measure high currents with best accuracy, Kelvin Four-terminal current shunts are commonly used in the metrology community and in the industrial mea-

Temperature Effect on the Current Shunt

Electrical Measurements of the Tested Solar Cell in Different Seasons

Results

Conclusions