This section will introduce and detail the basic characteristics and operating principles of crystalline silicon PV cells as some considerations for designing systems using PV cells. A PV cell is essentially a large-area p–n semiconductor junction that captures the energy from photons to create electrical energy.
Characteristic curves I-V and P-V of a mono-crystalline silicon solar cell with a cell area of 102 cm 2 . Temperature influence on solar modules electric output parameters was investigated experimentally and their temperature coefficients was calculated. ... a solar cell is in an open-circuit or short-circuit state, it produces no power.
The I–V curve of a PV cell is shown in Figure 6. The star indicates the maximum power point (MPP) of the I–V curve, where the PV will produce its maximum power. At voltages below the MPP, the current is a relative constant as voltage changes such that it acts similar to a current source.
But a photovoltaic array is made up of smaller PV panels interconnected together. Then the I-V curve of a PV array is just a scaled up version of the single solar cell I-V characteristic curve as shown.
Solar cell I-V characteristic curves that summarise the relationship between the current and voltage are generally provided by the panels manufacturer and are given as: = open-circuit voltage – This is the maximum voltage that the array provides when the terminals are not connected to any load (an open circuit condition).
Other important characteristics include how the current varies as a function of the output voltage and as a function of light intensity or irradiance. The current-voltage (I-V) curve for a PV cell shows that the current is essentially constant over a range of output voltages for a specified amount of incident light energy.