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A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect. [1] It is a form of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics (such as current, voltage, or resistance) vary when it is exposed to light.
In a typical solar cell, the photovoltaic effect is used to generate electricity from sunlight. The light-absorbing or "active layer" of the solar cell is typically a semiconducting material, meaning that there is a gap in its energy spectrum between the valence band of localized electrons around host ions and the conduction band of higher-energy electrons which are free to move throughout the ...
If they are different, the total current through the solar cell is the lowest of the three. By approximation, [26] it results in the same relationship for the short-circuit current of the MJ solar cell: J SC = min(J SC1, J SC2, J SC3) where J SCi (λ) is the short-circuit current density at a given wavelength λ for the subcell i.
Band diagram of a silicon solar cell, corresponding to very low current (horizontal Fermi level), very low voltage (metal valence bands at same height), and therefore very low illumination. When a photon is absorbed, its energy is given to an electron in the crystal lattice. Usually this electron is in the valence band.
A copper indium gallium selenide solar cell (or CIGS cell, sometimes CI(G)S or CIS cell) is a thin-film solar cell used to convert sunlight into electric power. It is manufactured by depositing a thin layer of copper indium gallium selenide solid solution on glass or plastic backing, along with electrodes on the front and back to collect current.
The Shockley–Queisser limit, zoomed in near the region of peak efficiency. In a traditional solid-state semiconductor such as silicon, a solar cell is made from two doped crystals, one an n-type semiconductor, which has extra free electrons, and the other a p-type semiconductor, which is lacking free electrons, referred to as "holes."
A solar cell (also called photovoltaic cell or photoelectric cell) is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon. It is a form of photoelectric cell, defined as a device whose electrical characteristics, such as current ...
The cell was completed by adding top and bottom contacts. Early leaders in CdS/CdTe cell efficiencies were GE in the 1960s, and then Kodak, Monosolar, Matsushita, and AMETEK. [citation needed] By 1981, Kodak used close-space sublimation (CSS) and made the first 10% efficient cells and first multi-cell devices (12 cells, 8% efficiency, 30 cm 2 ...