The first modern solar cell was invented in 1954 at Bell Laboratories. It was built on earlier work from 1883 when Charles Fritts created the first solar cell by coating selenium with a thin layer of gold. Solar cells directly convert sunlight into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. They are made from semiconductor materials like silicon and come in different generations from thin-film to those using nanostructures and quantum dots. Concentrating solar power plants also use sunlight to create steam that powers generators.

1. PV Cells
Siva
Karthik R
I
st
Semester
RV College OF Engineering
CSE

2.  According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the first genuine solar cell
was built around 1883 by Charles Fritts, who used junctions formed
by coating selenium (a semiconductor ) with an extremely thin layer
of gold.
 Russell Ohl - Silicon Solar Cell
Light-sensitive electric device
US 2402662 A
 In 1954, The first modern solar cell was invented at Bell
Laboratories

3. Solar Energy
 Solar is the prime free source of inexhaustible
energy available to all
 India is one of the sun's most favored nations,
blessed with about 5,000 TWh of solar
insolation every year.
 Even if a tenth of this potential was utilized,
it could mark the end of India's power
problems

4. INTRODUCTION
 A photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device
that converts the energy of light directly
into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
 It works on the principal of photoelectric
effect
 The figure shows a PV Cell made from
mono crystalline silicon wafer.

5. Third Generation PV
Cell
• Ultra-High
Efficiency
concepts
(>80%)
• Ultra-low Cost
• Polymer
cells with
quantum
dots or
nanostru
ctures
First Generation PV Cell:
• Single crystalline
silicon
• Multi-junction cell
(different band-gap
materials)
Types Of PV Cells
Second Generation PV
Cell:
• Thin film silicon
(amorphous
silicon)
• CdTe (Cadmium
Telluride)
• CuInSe2 (Copper
Indium
Diselenide)
First Generation Second Generation Third Generation

6. ELECTRONICS COMPONENT
 Equivalent circuit models
define the entire I-V curve of
a cell, module, or array as a
continuous function for a
given set of operating
conditions
 The following represents the
Diode Equivalent Circuit of a
Photo Voltaic Cell.
 A number of these circuits
form a Solar Panel

7.  Concentrating solar power
plants also create electricity
using sunlight.
 In these plants, there is an
intermediate energy carrier:
special thermal collectors
 They use the heat from the
sun to warm a fluid and create
steam.
 The steam then powers the
prime mover of an electric
generator, which makes
electricity via electromagnetic
induction.

8. • MPPT (Maximum Power
Point Tracker)
• It is the purpose of the
MPPT system to sample
the output of the solar
cells and apply the proper
resistance (load) to obtain
maximum power for any
given environmental
conditions
• The Controller for this
system is programmed in
C language

9. • Solar cell efficiency is the
ratio of the electrical
output of a solar cell to
the incident energy in the
form of sunlight
Solar cell efficiency ( ) depends on
- The total power light power
density (JV) on the cell
- The actual potential difference
of the system
- The actual current density of
the system
- The “fill factor” Fill factor is
defined as the ratio of the maximum
power from the solar cell to the
product of Open Circuit Voltage
Voc and Short-Circuit Current Isc

10. THE FUTURE
 Recently the technology of 3D
printable Solar Cells has been
developed
 You can even fold it up to slip into a
pocket, then unfold it and watch it
generating electricity again in the
sunlight.
 Solar energy and 3D printed solar
cells are still in the future but closer
to being a reality than you originally
thought.

11. References
• Direct Monolithic Integration of Organic Photovoltaic Circuits on
Unmodified Paper--DOI: 10.1002/adma.201101263
• From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity
By John Perlin
• Solarcellinfo.com