• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.424.2-424.2
• /
• 2016

Solar cell converts light energy to electric energy. But a solar cell generates low power, PV module is fabricated by connected in series with dozens of solar cell. Owing to solar cell connected in series, power of PV module is influenced by shading or mismatch power of solar cells. To prevent power loss of PV module by shading or mismatch current, Bypass diodes are installed in PV module. Bypass diode operating reverse voltage by shading or mismatch power of solar cells bypass mismatch current. However, bypass diode in module exposed outdoor is easily damaged by surge voltage. In this paper, we confirm characteristics variation of PV module with damaged bypass diode. As a result, power of PV module with damaged bypass diode is reduced and Temperature of that is increased.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.577-584
• /
• 2015

A photovoltaic (PV) system generates electricity by installing a solar energy array; therefore, the photovoltaic system can be easily exposed to external factors, which include environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and radiation. These factors-as well as shading, in particular-lead to power degradation. When there is an output loss in the solar cell of a PV module package, the output loss is partly controlled by the bypass diode. As solar cells become highly efficient, the characteristics of series resistance and parallel resistance improve, and the characteristics of reverse voltage change. A bypass diode is connected in parallel to the string that is connected in series to the PV module. Ideally, the bypass diode operates when the voltage is -0.6[V] around. This study examines the bypass diode operating time for different types of crystalline solar cells. It compares the reverse voltage characteristics between the single solar cell and polycrystalline solar cell. Special modules were produced for the experiment. The shading rate of the solar cell in the specially made solar energy module was raised by 5% each time to confirm that the bypass diode was operating. The operation of the bypass diode is affected not only by the reverse voltage but also by the forward bias. This tendency was verified as the number of strings increased.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.107-111
• /
• 2015

Current characteristic curve of an illuminated solar cell was used to determine its reverse saturation current density ($J_0$), ideality factor (n) and resistances, by using numerical diode simulation. High efficiency amorphous silicon, heterojunction crystalline Si (HIT), plastic and organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar cell shows n=3.27 for a-Si and n=2.14 for improved HIT cell as high and low n respectively, while the perovskite and plastic cells show n=2.56 and 2.57 respectively. The $J_0$ of these cells remain within $7.1{\times}10^{-7}$ and $1.79{\times}10^{-8}A/cm^2$ for poorer HIT and improved perovskite solar cell respectively.

• Solar Energy
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 1998

In two terminals monolithic tandem solar cells, tunnel diode is an important variable to improve conversion efficiency depending on current matching between the top and the bottom cells. Especially, the GaAs/Ge tandem is one of the most interesting cells for its high potential efficiency. This paper shows that physical analysis about I-V specific character of the GaAs/Ge solar cell, which is grown by MOCVD for GaAs or CVD for Ge, using computer simulation and experimental results, varying with thickness of the tunnel diode layer and concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.67-75
• /
• 2015

PV module is conventionally connected in series with some solar cell to adjust the output of module. Some bypass diodes in module are installed to prevent module from hot spot and mismatch power loss. However, bypass diode in module exposed outdoor is easily damaged by surge voltage. In this paper, we study the thermal and electrical characteristics change of module with damaged bypass diode to easily find module with damaged bypass diode in photovoltaic system consisting of many modules. Firstly, the temperature change of bypass diode is measured according to forward and reverse bias current flowing through bypass diode. The maximum surface temperature of damaged bypass diode applied reverse bias is higher than that of normal bypass diode despite flowing equal current. Also, the output change of module with and without damaged bypass diode is observed. The output of module with damaged bypass diode is proportionally reduced by the total number of connected solar cells per one bypass diode. Lastly, the distribution temperature of module with damaged bypass diode is confirmed by IR camera. Temperature of all solar cells connected with damaged bypass diode rises and even hot spot of some solar cells is observed. We confirm that damaged bypass diodes in module lead to power drop of module, temperature rise of module and temperature rise of bypass diode. Those results are used to find module with a damaged bypass diode in system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2007.06a
• /
• pp.25-26
• /
• 2007

In this paper, we studied the shadow effect which is one of environmental cause for hot-spot phenomenon on PV by considering electrical effects. We fabricated PV module in case of existence and nonexistence of bypass diode. And maximum output power and thermal distribution was analyzed by shadowing solar cell by increase of 5%. From the results, the PV module's(without bypass diode) maximum output power was reduced by hot-spot gradually. But the PV module's(with bypass diode) maximum output power had no reduction by operation of bypass diode, though solar cell is shadowed more than 60%. The solar cell temperature of PV module(without bypass diode) was $10^{\circ}C$ higher compared to module's one. This is a reason for shortening of durability of PV module.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.63-71
• /
• 2016

Installed PV module in field is affected by shading caused by various field environmental factors. Bypass diodes are installed in PV module for preventing a power loss and degradation of PV module by shading. But, Bypass diode is easily damaged by surge voltage and has often initial a defect. This paper propose the electric characteristic variation and the power prediction of PV module with damaged bypass diode. Firstly, the resistance for normal bypass diode and damaged bypass diode of resistance was measured by changing the current. When the current increases, the resistance of normal bypass diode is almost constant but the resistance of damaged bypass diode increases. Next, To estimate power of PV module by damaged bypass diode, the equation for the current is derived using solar cell equivalent circuit. Finally, the derived equation was simulated by using MatLab tools, was verified by comparing experimental data.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.26 no.8
• /
• pp.422-426
• /
• 2016

With the increase in installed solar energy capacity, comparison and analysis of the physical property values of solar cells are becoming increasingly important for production. Therefore, research on determining the physical characteristic values of solar cells is being actively pursued. In this study, a diode equation, which is commonly used to describe the I-V behavior and determine the electrical characteristic values of solar cells, was applied. Using this method, it is possible to determine the diode ideality factor (n) and series resistance ($R_s$) based on light I-V measurements. Thus, using a commercial screen-printed solar cell and an interdigitated back-contact solar cell, we determined the ideality factor (n) and series resistance ($R_s$) with a modified diode equation method for the light I-V curves. We also used the sun-shade method to determine the ideality factor (n) and series resistance ($R_s$) of the samples. The values determined using the two methods were similar. However, given the error in the sun-shade method, the diode equation is considered more useful than the sun-shade method for analyzing the electrical characteristics because it determines the ideality factor (n) and series resistance ($R_s$) based on the light I-V curves.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.939-942
• /
• 2016

One of the most important characteristic curves of a solar cell is its current density-voltage (J-V) curve under AM1.5G insolation. Solar cell can be considered as a semiconductor diode, so a diode equivalent model was used to estimate its parameters from the J-V curve by numerical simulation. Active layer plays an important role in operation of a solar cell. We investigated the effect thicknesses and defect densities (N_d) of the active layer on the J-V curve. When the active layer thickness was varied (for N_d = 8×10¹⁷ cm^-3) from 800 nm to 100 nm, the reverse saturation current density (J_o) changed from 3.56×10^-5 A/cm² to 9.62×10^-11 A/cm² and its ideality factor (n) changed from 5.28 to 2.02. For a reduced defect density (N_d = 4×10¹⁵ cm^-3), the n remained within 1.45≤n≤1.92 for the same thickness range. A small increase in shunt resistance and almost no change in series resistance were observed in these cells. The low reverse saturation current density (J_o = 9.62×10^-11 A/cm²) and diode ideality factor (n = 2.02 or 1.45) were observed for amorphous silicon based solar cell with 100 nm thick active layer.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.12-17
• /
• 2008

In this paper, an I-V characteristics of bypass diode has been studied by counting the shading effect in photovoltaic module. The shadow induces hot spot phenomenon in PV module due to the increase of resistance in the current path. Two different types of PV module with and without bypass diode were fabricated to expect maximum output power with an increasing shading rate of 5 % on the solar cell. Temperature distribution is also detected by shading the whole solar cell for the outdoor test. From the result, the bypass diode works properly over 60 % of shading per cell with constant output power. Maximum power generation in case of solar cell being totally shaded with bypass diode decreases 41.3 % compared with the one under STC(Standard Test Condition). On the other hand, the maximum output power of the module without bypass diode gradually decreases by showing hot spot phenomenon with the increase of shading ratio on the cell and finally indicates 95.5 % of power loss compared with the output under STC. Finally the module temperature measured increases around $10^{\circ}C$ higher than that under STC due to hot-spots which come from the condition without bypass diode. It has been therefore one of the main reasons for degrading the PV module and shortening the durability of the PV system.