Unit 1
Solar energy
Solar radiation, its measurements and analysis. Solar angles, day length, angle of incidence on tilted surface, Sunpath diagrams, Shadow determination. Extraterrestrial characteristics, Effect of earth atmosphere, measurement & estimation on horizontal and tilted surfaces.
Solar cell physics
p-n junction, homo and hetro junctions, Metal-semiconductor interface, Dark and illumination characteristics, Figure of merits of solar cell, Efficiency limits, Variation of efficiency with band-gap and temperature, efficiency measurements, high efficiency cells, Tandem structure.
Unit 2
Solar cell fabrication technology
Preparation of metallurgical, Electronic and Solar grade Silicon, Production of Single Crystal ‘Si’, Chocharlski (CZ) and Float Zone (FZ) method for preparation of silicon, procedure of masking, photolithography and etching, Design of a complete silicon, GaAs, InP solar cell. High efficiency III-V, II-VI multijunction solar cell, a-Si-H based solar cells, Quantum well solar cell, Thermophotovoltaics. Nanosolar cells. Thin film technologies.
Solar Cell Characterization
Characterization of solar cells: IV characteristics, impedance, incident photon-tocurrent conversion efficiency (IPCE), intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMPV), lifetime measurements.
Solar photovoltaic system design
Solar cell arrays, system analysis and performance prediction, shadow analysis, reliability, solar cell array design concepts, PV system design, Design process and optimization, Detailed array design, storage autonomy, Voltage regulation, maximum tracking, Power electronic converters for interfacing with load and grid, use of computers in array design, Quick sizing method, Array protection and troubleshooting.
