A CONSIDERATION OF THE ELECTRICAL AND POWER CONVERSION EFFICIENCY OF SOLAR CELLS

River Providence
620076443
Solid State Electronic Devices
University of the West Indies Mona
Department of Physics

Abstract
Solar cell technology is underused for the potential it has to serve as a clean source of energy to power
the next stage of human development. One of the major failings of current solar technology is its relative
inefficiency when compared to traditional methods of energy generation through the burning of fossil
fuels. Therefore enhancing the efficiency of solar cells can initiate a turning point in the face of renewable
energy generation. Ways of increasing the efficiency of both inorganic and organic solar cells were
considered, with the identification of various methods which may increase the power conversion
efficiency of the solar cells. The efficiency of solar cells made from inorganic semiconductor materials was
seen to be increased by utilising materials with smaller bandgap energies while a greater exploration of
the ability to increase the efficiency of polymer solar cells was done. The development of organic solar
cells was explored as a way of bettering some of the failings of inorganic solar cells, and a treatment of
the ways of increasing the efficiency of these cells and the possible negative effects of these processes if
not done correctly were also discussed.

Discussion
Solar cell technology has the potential to change the face of the energy sector by providing a
stable, sustainable, reliable and renewable source of energy that can come into direct competition with
the burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels; natural gas, crude oil and coal, to generate energy
is estimated to represent 81.4% of the 13541 million tonnes of oil equivalent of energy used to power
2013[1]. The use of solar power is even less than some of its renewable energy counterparts, such as
nuclear, wind and hydro power. The efficiency of solar systems is a major reason why the potential of
solar power for the generation of energy is underused. The construction of solar cells maximises the
amount of energy that can be feasibly obtained from the suns incident radiation using the modern
technology available, but still results in much loss of potential power as most of the suns energy is not
harnessed.
The simplest construction of a solar cell utilises a semiconductor material, usually inorganic,
sandwiched between a pane of glass and a dark absorbent backing, onto which the suns incident radiation
falls, transferring energy. This energy causes electrons within the lattice structure of the semiconductor
material to become excited and mobile. This mobility of electrons then creates a current which is then
transmitted throughout the circuit attached to the solar cell, and the electricity generated can be used to
power other devices. Solar cells, after the initial construction and development phase, which is relatively
expensive and tedious due to the rigidity and cost of the silicon material generally used, offer a cost
effective and renewable source of electricity generation to power small systems. However, this initial cost
of a solar cell system, coupled with the low efficiency of conversion of incident power to power output by
the cell, approximately 8% for average devices[8], and the relatively large surface area panel can occupy,
results in the underuse of solar cell technology available.
The efficiency of inorganic semiconductor solar cells can be increased using semiconductor
materials of lower bandgap energies, such as multi-cell gallium arsenide (GaAs) with a theoretical
efficiency of 44%[9], thereby allowing easier ionization of atoms within the lattice. Concentrators which
act as reflectors focusing the incident radiation onto the semiconductor device, orienting the panel in such
a way as to maximise the incident radiation and, by extension, devices which allow the movement of the
solar cell panel throughout the day so as to maximise the incident radiation at all hours of the day can
also be employed to increase efficiency. The ability to increase the efficiency of inorganic solar cells seems
to rely on the semiconductor material used in fabrication and its capability to form electron hole pairs at
lower energies, as well as relative size of these units. If units that are equal in efficiency or more efficient

than others of greater size can be developed then more cells can be incorporated into a panel and onto a
fixed area, thereby allowing more energy to be generated by solar cells on the same surface area.
In the consideration of the electrical efficiency of an inorganic solar cell using 2 as the
inorganic semiconductor material it was found that varying wavelengths of light varied the quantum
efficiency of the solar cell and therefore varied the electrical efficiency of the inorganic solar cell[6]. The
electrical efficiency of a solar cell can be calculated using the formula electrical efficiency =

where QE represents the quantum efficiency is a ratio of incident photons utilized by solar cell to the total
number of incident photons[7], is the wavelength of the incident light and P the spectral irradiance
which was given as a function of the wavelength in the experimental procedure carried out by Cairns
(2015). Increasing the electrical efficiency of a semiconductor material is analogous to increasing the
power conversion ratio of the same material as electrical efficiency is the ratio of power converted from
incident photons to total power provided by incident photons. For the 2 solar cell in question, it
was found that light of wavelength 500nm in the visible spectrum had the highest quantum efficiency,
and therefore would have the highest power conversion of incident photons of this wavelength[6].
However as the suns radiation does not possess a singular wavelength of light it was determined that the
summation of the effects of the various wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum was found to produce
an effective theoretical electrical efficiency for 2 solar cell of 28.898%[6]. As the average in
practice efficiency of solar cells ranges between 10% and 14% this theoretical value, even after modulation
due to implementation not equalling theoretical value this efficiency represents an upper level of
efficiency for a solar cell.
An answer to the issues generated by inorganic semiconductor devices is the development of
organic (polymer) semiconductor devices. The issues of the high cost of fabrication of traditional rigid
solar crystal photovoltaic cells and the brittleness of the silicon crystal material can be ameliorated by the
use of these polymer semiconductor cells that utilise cheaper and more malleable materials in assembly.
A simplified construction of polymer solar cells would involve a thin layer of organic semiconductor
material, usually in a liquid form placed onto a glass 2 support or a plastic support between two layers
of material that allow no passage of either holes or electrons[5], thereby acting as an insulator-type
material, and two metal electrodes or contacts that facilitate the transmission of the current generated
by the semiconductor material to a wider circuit.

These polymer solar cells incorporate a mixture of organic semiconductor materials which, upon
the acceptance of a photon of light, the donor material gives up an electron which is then taken in by the
other acceptor material, such as the organic compound fullerene. Therefore, in a polymer cell there is no
designated p-n junction such as in the traditional hard, rigid silicon crystal based solar cell. In addition
these devices are
lighter, cheaper and
more

flexible

if

plastic is used as the

support

material.

Organic
semiconductor
materials also vary
from

inorganic

semiconductors

by

the fact that they

possess

bandgaps

Fig. 1: Showing chemical structure of various donor and acceptor materials that
comprise the photoactive layer in organic semiconductors [11]

analogous with the

definition of insulators, of approximately 2eV to 4eV, instead of the lower band gap of inorganic
semiconductors of 1eV to 2eV. Therefore charge carriers must be injected into these organic substances
to make them suitable to carry electrical current.

The creation of the electron hole pair, and the conduction of the electrons generated through the
electrodes into the wider circuit produces polymer cell circuits which have the potential to convert solar
energy into electrical energy to power systems at a low cost. However, the power conversion efficiency
of polymer solar cells is very low, with a very small fraction of power input from solar radiation being
output into electrical power without the use of other processes to enhance the efficiency of this process.
The power conversion efficiency of an untreated polymer solar cell is given at around 2.5%, but through
processes such as annealing and exposure to relatively high potentials the power conversion efficiency
can be increased[2]. The process of annealing requires the organic semiconductor material to have its
temperature raised by a relatively large amount and then cooled slowly, thereby changing the physical
properties of the material, allowing the material to be more ductile and malleable. The annealed polymer
cell shows an increase in the efficiency of transmission of electrons as mobility is increased as the crystal
structure of the matrix is enhanced. Annealing
coupled with the exposure to an electric field after
the development of the photoactive matrix further
enhances the power conversion efficiency of the
polymer solar cell[2].
The use of tandem cells, integrating multiple
layers of organic semiconductor materials between
layers of non-conducting material, can create
polymer solar cells that provide efficiencies of about
10.6%[3]. Another method of increasing the
efficiency of organic polymer solar cells is to utilize
materials in the construction of the cells that have
lower bandgap energies, therefore increasing the
number of charge carriers that can released from
incident

photons

of

various

energies.

Fig. 2: Showing simplified construction of tandem

polymer organic solar cell [10]

The

manipulation of the photoactive layer, and the inclusion of compounds such as fluorine in this layer to
lower the bandgap energies has been seen to correspond to developments in making these polymer solar
cells more efficient[4]. In addition, the substitution by organic syntheses of side groups in cyclically
structured compounds and the inclusion of additive extra compounds to the liquid photoactive layer

which increase sensitivity to light are methods of decreasing the bandgap energy and thus increasing the
number of electron hole pairs produced, and thereby the power conversion efficiency[4]. The inclusion of
non-conducting layers that sandwich the
photoactive layer that do not allow the
transmission or absorption of the electrons and
holes produced but by the electrodes is another
method of increasing the power conversion
efficiency[4].
However, these various manipulations
to lower bandgap energies, capture lost incident
radiation and therefore power by use of tandem
structures, and treatments such as annealing

and electrical field application to modify the

[2]

structure of the photoactive layer can have

unsavoury

results.

The

postproduction

treatment of the photoactive layer for periods of time longer than an established peak treatment times
can result in photoactive layers of lower power conversion efficiencies and therefore lower electrical
efficiencies[2], while the inclusion of impurity compounds and substitution of groups or side chains by
compounds such as fluorine in varying amounts can result in a reduction in electron mobility though the
photoactive layer as the structure of this layer may be changed too drastically[4].

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