1. CACTUS MOON EDUCATION, LLC www.cactusmooneducation.com
ENERGY FROM THE SUN
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGIES EDUCATION MODULE
(SPV01PP)
CACTUS MOON
EDUCATION, LLC

2. INDEX Slide 1 Front Sheet Slide 2 Index
Slide 3 The Photovoltaic Solar Cell
Slide 4 How a Solar Cell is Formed
Slide 5 How a Solar Cell Works
Slide 6 The Photovoltaic Module
Slide 7 The Inverter
Slide 8 Solar Photovoltaic Technologies
Slide 9 Flat Plate PV
Slide 10 HCPV
Slide 11 Thin film PV
Slide 12 A PV Solar System

3. The Photovoltaic Cell
The basic building block of a photovoltaic solar/electric system is the Photovoltaic cell, or solar cell.
The most common material used to make a solar cell is silicon.
The silicon is heated in a furnace out of which a single crystal ingot is drawn.
The ingot is sliced into wafers to be processed into a solar cell.

4. How a Solar Cell is Formed
The Silicon wafer is “doped” on one side with a P-type material such as Phosphorus 1
P-Type
The wafer is then doped on the other side with an N-type material such as Boron 2
N-Type 4
A top electrode array and an aluminum backplate are added to the wafer 3
At the junction of the P and N type areas a “depletion” layer forms
Silicon Wafer

5. How a Solar Cell Works + -
The electronic charges within the doped material
create an electric field across the depletion layer 1
When sunlight strikes the cell it can knock an electron out of its atomic orbit 2
The flow of charges makes an electric current which powers the attached electric circuit 5 e +
The electric field sweeps the electron towards the top electrodes 3
The gap or “hole” left by the electron is swept to wards the back plate 4

6. The Photovoltaic Module
The output voltage of a silicon photovoltaic cell is approximately 0.7 Volts.
Multiple cells are connected together to make a photovoltaic module.

7. The Inverter
The electricity generated by a photovoltaic module is Direct Current or DC.
Most electrical appliances use Alternating Current or AC.
Electronic circuits in an Inverter turn the DC power into AC power.

8. Solar Photovoltaic Technologies
Photovoltaic modules can be manufactured and used in a number of different ways.
The Flat Plate PV module is the most common and is the one shown in the previous slides.
High Concentration PV or HCPV uses a lens or a mirror to capture the solar energy and concentrate it onto a solar cell.
Thin Film solar cells are manufactured by evaporating very thin layers of the photovoltaic material onto a glass or plastic backing.

9. Flat Plate PV Flat Plate PV modules are the most commonly used.
They are manufactured from single crystals or multiple crystals of silicon.
Flat Plate PV modules can typically convert 14% of the incident sun’s energy into electricity.

10. HCPV
Instead of covering a large area with photovoltaic material, HCPV harvests the sun’s energy using a relatively cheap plastic lens or a glass mirror.
The solar energy is then “concentrated” onto a small piece of photovoltaic material.
HCPV systems can convert between 20% and 40% of the incident solar energy into electricity.

11. Thin Film PV
Thin Film PV cells are manufactured by coating a glass or plastic sheet with a very thin layer of photovoltaic material atoms.
Large areas of glass or plastic can be covered using this technique.
Thin film PV modules can typically convert 9% of the incident solar energy into electricity.

12. A PV Solar System
A complete residential PV Solar System contains several components.
PV modules 1
DC disconnect
switch 2
Inverter 3
Utility kWh meter 7 4
Solar generation
meter
AC disconnect
switch 5
House service
entrance 6