2002 Volume 122 Issue 1 Pages 26-32
The current-voltage characteristics Iout(V) of various kinds of solar cells, including crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, thin-film crystalline silicon, and cadmium telluride, are experimentally investigated at various irradiance E. Their dependence on E can be well approximated by the sum of a dark current Id and a voltagedependent photocurrent Iph, which is proportional to E. These results are used to develop translation equations. It is demonstrated that the resulting formula is able to calculate the Iout(V) of the solar cells at any E from experimental Iout(V) at two different Es, with comparable or better accuracy than the conventional procedure based on the shifted approximation. The present procedure is straightforward, and does not require correction for the series resistance. The same translation equation is valid for all kinds of solar cells investigated in this study. Although the dependence of the fill factor, open circuit voltage and conversion efficiency of various solar cells on E is not simple, it is consistently explaind by the voltage-dependence of the Iph and Id.
The transactions of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.B
The Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan