SOLAR SPECTRUM INFLUENCE ON THE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF DIFFERENT SOLAR CELLS TYPES

Abstract

The electrical current generated by the solar cells is very sensitive to the incident spectral distribution and intensity. This distribution varies greatly during the day due to changes in the sun’s position or weather conditions. This work investigates the feasibility of using a solar spectral radiation model SMARTS2 to estimate the global solar irradiance and assess the influence of solar spectrum on the conversion efficiency of the organic thin film solar cells (PBDTTT) (poly[4,8-bissubstituted- benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b0]dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-4-substituted-thieno[3, 4-b]thiophene-2,6- diyl])) , and CIGS solar cells . The variation of the common performance indicators such as short circuit current, fill factor, open circuit voltage, and efficiency are shown and discussed for each month. The results show that the variations in the solar spectrum affect the different materials to different extent.the maximum efficiency is obtained in the summer months; however the lower efficiency is obtained during winter