Abstract – The solar power technology has been under development for a long time. Solar power has been a sure source of energy for many people living in remote places. One area of concern has been the use of solar panels in tapping the solar energy. There is research going on in the way solar cell performance is enhanced. There are technologies that have been developed to enhance the tapping of the solar energy from the sun. One technology that is gaining attention of engineering researchers is the use semi-conductor material to manufacture solar cells. In this area, there are new developments in the measurements of parameter in the solar cell. This paper will focus on how this technology has been used to manufacture solar cells.
Index terms – solar cells, semi-conductor, wafer
- INTRODUCTION
The solar technology has been under development for a long time. The solar power has been developed enhanced with new technologies. The solar cells were developed using photovoltaic cells in the 1839. The development of electrical devices with the use of silicon material was first researched and integrated in 1950. With the advancement of technology, there has been
the creation and manufacturing of light and small devices using plan materials. Solar cells have been used in the past in space and terrestrial operations. This technology is gaining momentum with the adoption of the technology in many other areas of development.
- SOLUTIONS
There are different solutions that have been developed to have the technology working and optimal in working. One development and enhancement that has been developed for a long time is the optimization of the photovoltaic cells in the solar gadgets. These are the cells which were created to create the solar power form the solar rays.
Another solution that is being developed is the use semi-conductor materials to manufacture solar power equipment. This has been seen to have benefits and research is being carried out to have optimal performance in the solar cells.
- PROBABLE SOLUTION
One area of research that is being researched in this field is the development of new solar cell performance measurement. This is enhanced with the development of single-chip with discrete components. This system can be applied to many components like terrestrial and space gadgets.
This technology is designed with the use of a simple circuitry which has an op-amp and a high transistor that is used for biasing cell voltage. When this is put together with a control system that is based on micro-processor, the simple circuitry can be used to collect measure and store data that is related to solar cell performance. The components of the system are that of D A and AD converters, op-amps, and biasing transistors.
There is the use of silicon wafers in the current circuits which have a range of 150-200mm. If exposed to a solar intensity of 100 milli watts per square cm, a silicon cell can be seen to generate up to 20mA per cm2. This means that a wafer which is turned into a solar cell will be able to produce 6mA of current. This is a high current while the voltage that is found in an ammeter is seen to be 300mV which makes up to 70% of the voltage of the cell. This means that with a voltage capacity of 450milli-voltage, the measurement of short circuit has high probability of inaccuracy. This calls for a new way in which these measurements can be done for reliable results.
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