International Journal of Ambient Energy

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taen20

A comprehensive review of different types of solar

photovoltaic cells and their applications

Neelam Rathore, Narayan Lal Panwar, Fatiha Yettou & Amor Gama

To cite this article: Neelam Rathore, Narayan Lal Panwar, Fatiha Yettou & Amor Gama (2021)
A comprehensive review of different types of solar photovoltaic cells and their applications,
International Journal of Ambient Energy, 42:10, 1200-1217, DOI: 10.1080/01430750.2019.1592774

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2019.1592774

Published online: 01 Apr 2019.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 1366

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 14 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=taen20
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY
2021, VOL. 42, NO. 10, 1200–1217
https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2019.1592774

A comprehensive review of different types of solar photovoltaic cells and their

applications

Neelam Rathorea , Narayan Lal Panwar b , Fatiha Yettouc and Amor Gamac
a Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, Udaipur, India; b Department of Renewable Energy
Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, India; c Unité de Recherche Appliquée en Energies Renouvelables
(URAER), Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, (CDER), Ghardaia, Algeria

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems play an important role for electricity production using solar energy. Under- Received 22 December 2018
developed or developing nations still strive for constant supply of electricity. When fossil fuel is used Accepted 6 March 2019
for electricity generation, it leads to an increase in pollutants and greenhouse gases. This is creating KEYWORDS
environmental problems. Further global energy demand can be met out by using various solar energy Solar cell; photovoltaic; solar
technologies, can also save the earth from global issues and at the same time can also help to reduce pol- electricity; semiconductor
lution. PV systems are installed in remote areas where peoples do not have access to electricity. A number
of initiatives have been taken by many government agencies to encourage the usage of solar energy tech-
nology for electricity production. This paper reviews the advancement made in the previous years in the
field of monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin-film PV and perovskite solar cell. This paper provides a
general understanding of power generation using PV systems and discusses early research of the PV cell.

1. Introduction advantage of solar PV technology. Since the last decade the per
watt cost of any solar energy devices is considered to be more
Tremendous amount of heat energy released in the form of radi-
important for the development of solar energy devices which
ation from the sun is known as solar energy. Solar energy is
is set to become economical in the coming year (Wall 2014). In
inexhaustible and is free of cost (Choubey, Oudhia, and Dewan-
July 2018, the solar tariff was reduced to Rs 2.44/kWh, which was
gan 2012; Chu and Meisen 2011). There is an increase in energy
Rs 18/kWh in 2018 due to ease in land availability, economics of
consumption day by day, due to quick advancement and grow-
scale, etc. (MNRE 2018).
ing world population. In the present scenario, energy demand
India receives global irradiation in the range of 6–7.1 kWh/
is met by conventional sources of energy such as oil, coal and
m2 /day (Rathore et al. 2018). The annual energy consumption of
gas. When fossil fuels are used for electricity generation, it
the world has increased to 10 terawatts (TW) which is even pre-
leads to an increase in pollutants and greenhouse gases. This is
dicted to rise to 30 TW by 2030 (Tobnaghi, Madatov, and Naderi
creating environmental problems. Renewable energy technolo-
2013). This energy demand can be fulfilled by PV power gen-
gies possess good potential to protect the earth from pollution
eration systems. It is expected that about 345 GW amount of
and hence can meet global energy demand (Ahuja and Tatsu-
electricity by 2020 and 1081 GW by 2030 will be supplied by solar
tani 2009). Further, this technology is more favourable, efficient
PV systems (Tyagi, Rahmin, and Jeyraj 2013).
energy resource among all available renewable technologies.
The installed solar grid capacity was 3743 MW in March 2015,
In the developing country, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology
6762 in March 2016 while in July 2016 it reached to 8062 MW
is the key driver for electrifying rural areas. The available solar
(Kabir 2018).
energy can be converted directly into direct current (DC) and
The aim of this paper is to review the development achieved
thus a major advantage of using PV cells. Moreover, as compared
in previous years in the field of monocrystalline, polycrystalline
with conventional energy production, operating solar energy is
and thin-film PV. This paper acquaints the reader with the con-
much easier and requires less manpower. The important appli-
cept of PV power generation. Further power generating capabil-
cation of the solar PV system is the power supply to remote
ity of PV systems, different existing light absorbing materials and
house or villages, irrigation and water supply. As compared with
variety of applications have been discussed in detail.
other power pumping devices which produce unbearable noise
during operation, these solar cells produce no noise (Sharma,
Jain, and Sharma 2015). PV panels have no mechanically moving
2. PV technology
parts and maintenance and operating cost are also considered
to be low. Further solar panels can be installed on rooftops and PV technology is used to convert sunlight into electricity with-
ground without interference to living condition, this is another out taking any aid of the heat engine. Each cell of PV technology

CONTACT Neelam Rathore [email protected]

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1201

Figure 1. Overview of solar technologies (Chu and Meisen 2011).

contains layers of a semi-conducting material. When light strikes to the formation of the diode which promotes current to flow
on the cell, the electric field caused generation of electricity unidirectionally (Hersch and Zweibel 1982). An overview of solar
which is created across different layers of the semiconductor. technologies is shown in Figure 1.
The quantity of electricity for the cell is determined by the inten- Both n-type and p-type sides of solar cells are connected to
sity of the light striking on the cell. The DC generated by the the external load using a metal semiconductor. When light in the
PV cell can be converted to alternating current (AC) which can form of photons strike the cell, the energy gets transferred to the
be stored for future use. Rating of PV systems is normally men- charge carriers present in the cell. Holes (positive charge carriers)
tioned in peak kilowatts (kWp) (Parida, Iniyan, and Goic 2011). and electrons (negative charge carriers) are separated by elec-
Therefore, it provides a compelling solution for all the cadres tric field. Electricity can be extracted when the circuit is closed
of societies either rural or urban to meet their needs for clean, with an external load. The PV cell has capacity to work with
abundant sources of energy along with ensuring security for the both types of radiations, i.e. direct and diffuse light. Although
future. with reduced production and conversion efficiency as well, these
Semiconductor materials like silicon are used for the fabrica- systems can also generate electricity in cloudy days. The more
tion of PV cells. By introducing impurities into the crystal lattice the light falling on modules, the more will be the production of
of the semiconductor, its conductivity may be easily modified; electricity (Markvarta and Castañerb 2011).
this property makes it useful for PV application. Normally, silicon
having four valence electrons is used for the fabrication process 3. Historic development
of PV cells. The n-type donor having five valence electrons like
The PV effect is known by scientists for more than 150 years.
phosphorus is allowed to be doped on one side of the cell which
The PV effect was detected in 1839 by Alexandre-Edmond Bec-
donates weakly bound valence electrons to the silicon mate-
querel. In 1946, Russel Ohl invented the solar cell made of silicon
rial and creates excess negative charge carriers. On the another
(Castellano 2010). Chronicle early development of PV is shown
side, boron having three valence electrons (p-donor) creates a
in Table 1.
greater affinity than silicon of attracting electrons. Diffusion of
electrons takes place due to the intimate contact of the p-type
silicon with the n-type silicon, hence forming the p–n junction.
4. Characterisation of solar cells
During this diffusion process, recombination of holes and elec- All PV devices integrate a p–n junction across which voltage is
tron takes place across the p–n junction. This electric field leads developed. One diode model of the PV cell is represented in
1202 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Table 1. Year wise progress of PV technology.

Year Development
1839 Antoine – Cesar Becquerel discovered production of voltage on exposing solid electrode immersed in electrolyte. This effect was named as PV effect (Joseph
et al. 2015)
1876 Selenium cell was firstly manufactured by W.G. Adams and R.E. Day by observing PV effect in solid selenium.
1883 Charles Fritz built first true PV cell which had an efficiency of less than 1%. He use thin layer of gold for coating semiconductor selenium (Hersch and Zweibel
1982)
1904 First paper was published on the Photoelectric effect by Albert Einstein
1927 Using copper and copper oxide new type of cell was developed which had an efficiency of less than 1% (Joseph et al. 2015)
1941 The silicon PV cell was developed by Russell Ohl (Joseph et al. 2015)
1954 Efficiency of 4% was achieved in silicon PV cell by Bell laboratories which was soon increased to 6% and 11% (Hersch and Zweibel 1982).
1958 This was the first time when PV cells were used in space.

Figure 2. One diode circuit diagram (Kalagirou 2009).

Figure 2. The model consists of a current source IL , one diode, a

series resistance RS which represents the resistance inside each
cell and an internal shunt resistance. The difference between the Figure 3. I–V and P–V characteristics of a crystalline silicon PV module (Meral and
photocurrent IL and the normal diode current Id gives the value Dincer 2011).
net current (Meral and Dincer 2011)
   
q(V + IRS ) V + IRS
I = IL − I0 exp −1 −
AkT RSH multiplications are done from short circuit to open circuit con-
ditions (Goetzberger and Hoffman 2005). The maximum current
Id is the junction current of the diode. available from the cell is at the closed circuit, whereas maxi-
    mum voltage is available at the open circuit. A point always
q(V + IRS )
Id = I0 exp −1 exists somewhere in between the curve where maximum power
AkT
can be extracted. The power reaches its maximum value at a
where I is the load current, IL is the PV current, I0 is the reverse particular combination of current and voltage, i.e. Imp and V mp .
saturation current, Q is the electronic charge, K is the Boltzmann Maximum voltage and maximum current can be estimated using
constant 1381 × 10−23 J/K, T is the absolute temperature and A open circuit voltage and short circuit voltage: V mp ∼
= (0.8–0.90)
is the diode quality factor, RS is the series resistance, and RSH is V oc and Imp ∼
= (0.85–0.95) ISC .
parallel resistance.
Another important parameter is the open circuit voltage V OC
which is given by (Kalagirou 2009) 5. Types of solar cell
   
kT IL kT IL There are many kinds of solar cells. Wafer-based silicon cells
VOC = ln +1 ≈ ln
q I0 q I0 account for 90% of the solar cells. The thickness of wafer-
based silicon solar cells is approximately 180–200 µm (Zhang
et al. 2014). Major types of silicon material required for
4.1. I–V and P–V characteristics of a crystalline silicon PV
the production of solar cells are single crystalline, multicrys-
module
talline and amorphous silicon (McEvoy, Castaner, and Mark-
The efficiency of panels can be calculated by plotting I–V and vart 2012), cadmium–telluride (CdTe) (McEvoy et al. 2012),
P–V characteristics (Hersch and Zweibel 1982). The peak power copper–indium–gallium–selenide (CIGS) (Bertolli 2008) and
point (MPP) required for configuring the solar system can also copper–indium–gallium–sulphide (Bagher, Vahid, and Mohsen
be determined by the I–V and P–V curves. The V–I character- 2015; Srinivas et al. 2015). Classification of solar cell technolo-
istics of the silicon PV cell under normal operating conditions gies is shown in Figure 4. On the basis of manufacturing material
is depicted in the graph of Figure 3. The power curve for a and level of commercial maturity, PV cell technologies can be
particular radiation could be obtained for all the points if the categorised into three generation:
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1203

Figure 4. Classification of solar cell technologies (Srinivas et al. 2015; Choubey, Oudhia, and Dewangan 2012).

5.1. First-generation solar cells Table 2. Effect of increase of temperature on efficiency of crystalline-Si solar cells
(Qusay et al. 2012).
Silicon wafers were used for the development of the first-
Temperature (°C) Efficiency (%)
generation solar cell. Due to high power efficiencies this technol-
81 14
ogy is the oldest but the most popular technology (Sharma, Jain, 83 19
and Sharma 2015). The first-generation solar cells are further cat- 85 27
egorised into two sub-groups (Choubey, Oudhia, and Dewangan 87 21
89 15
2012; Bagher et al.2015; Srinivas et al. 2015):

• single/monocrystalline silicon solar cell, (a-Si/µc-Si), CdTe, CIGS. Second-generation solar cells are more
• poly/multicrystalline silicon solar cell. economical when compared with first-generation silicon wafer
solar cells. The light absorbing layers of first-generation solar
5.1.1. Single/monocrystalline silicon solar cell cells and thin-film solar cells are of order 350 and 1 µm thickness,
The Czochralski process is used to manufacture the monocrys- respectively (Chopra, Paulson, and Dutt 2004). This type of solar
talline solar cell (Srinivas et al. 2015; Wurfel and Wurfel 2009; cell have band gap of order 1.45 eV (Kamkird et al. 2012). It was
Dmitrijev 2006). During this Czochralski process, Si crystals are investigated by Barnett et al. (2001) that power conversion effi-
cut from big sized ingots. Precise processing is required while ciencies of greater than 19% can be achieved in case of thin-film
manufacturing the large single crystal hence making this pro- polycrystalline silicon solar cells due to light trapping and back
cess of ‘recrystallising’ more expensive. Although the efficiency surface passivation. Most of the available thin-film PV technolo-
of monocrystalline silicon solar cells lies between 14% and 18% gies were assessed by Powalla and Dimmler (2001) specially the
(Bertolli 2008), but the leading company SunPower Corporation Cu (In, Ga) Se2 (CIGS) based technology.
(2015) manufactured the modules having an efficiency of 20.4%
which was measured by NREL (2015) (Gul et al. 2016). 5.2.1. Amorphous silicon thin-film (a-Si) solar cell
5.1.2. Polycrystalline silicon solar cell These cells can be prepared at low processing temperature;
A number of different crystals are mixed together to form the therefore, it uses a low-cost polymer and other flexible sub-
polycrystalline silicon solar cell. Processing of this type of the strates. During the fabrication process, the backside of the sub-
solar cell is done by cooling a graphite-filled mould which makes strate is coated by doped silicon. These types of solar cells have a
it more economical. These cells are currently the most popular dark brown colour on the reflecting side while a silverish colour
types of solar cells (Sharma, Jain, and Sharma 2015). Although on the conducting side. Unstable efficiency is the main limitation
these cells are inexpensive to fabricate but related to monocrys- of these cells. Figure 5 depicts the schematic of the amorphous
talline silicon solar panels these cells have an efficiency of about silicon solar Cell. Mostly companies are manufacturing this kind
∼ 12−14% (Jayakumar 2009). The influence of temperature on of modules of range of 5.9–9% but Stion Corporation of USA
the efficiency of the polycrystalline solar cell is shown in Table 2. manufactured a-Si modules with the highest efficiency of 13.8%
(Gul, Kotak, and Muneer 2016).
5.2. Second-generation solar cells
5.2.2. CdTe thin-film solar cell
These are based on thin-film PV technologies and includes From the economical point of view, CdTe is one of the impor-
three main families: amorphous (a-Si) and micromorph silicon tant type among thin-film solar cells which is less expensive and
1204 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Table 3. Effect of increase of temperature on efficiency of CIGS solar cells (Fathi

et al. 2015).
Temperature (°C) Efficiency (%)
25 19.71
30 19.30
35 18.90
40 18.51
45 18.21
50 17.74
55 17.36
Figure 5. A schematic of amorphous silicon (Kaur and Singh 2016). 60 16.98
65 16.60
70 16.22

Figure 6. Schematic of CdTe solar cell (Kaur and Singh 2016).

economically feasible also (Bertolli 2008; Goswami and Kreith

2007). The p–n junction diode is formed between layers of cad-
mium sulphide. The manufacturing process is as follows: firstly,
the CdTe-based solar cells are synthesised from polycrystalline
materials and glass is chosen as a substrate. Secondly, deposition
is done, i.e. using different economical methods the multiple lay-
ers of CdTe solar cells are coated onto the substrate. Its efficiency
usually lies in the range between 9.5% and 11% (Bertolli 2008;
Badawy 2015). But due to the toxic nature of cadmium which can
accumulate in human bodies, animals as well as plants, it creates Figure 7. Schematic of CIGS solar cell (Kaur and Singh 2016).
numerous environmental problems. Further recycling and dis-
posal of toxic Cd are also damaging to our environment (Bagher,
Vahid, and Mohsen 2015).
Britt and Ferekides (1993) and Aramoto et al. (1997) obtained 5.3. Third-generation solar cells
cell efficiency of CdTe solar cells of about 15–16%. The highest
efficiency of the CdTe solar cell is achieved at 17.3% by the First These include technologies which still need demonstration and
Solar (2011) company which was confirmed by NREL (2015). The research like concentrating PV (CPV) and organic PV cells. Most
schematic of the CdTe solar cell is shown in Figure 6. of the developed third-generation solar cell types are (Choubey,
Oudhia, and Dewangan 2012):

5.2.3. CIGS solar cells (1) nano crystal based solar cells,
It is a semiconductor which comprises four elements, i.e. cop- (2) polymer-based solar cells,
per, indium, galium and selenium (Bagher, Vahid, and Mohsen (3) dye-sensitised solar cells,
2015). CIGS has achieved efficiency of about ∼ 10−12%. Tech- (4) concentrated solar cells.
nology based on the CIGS solar cell forms one of the apparent
thin-film technologies due to its high efficiency. The processing 5.3.1. Nano crystal based solar cells
of CIGS is done by the following techniques: sputtering, evapo- These solar cells are also referred to as quantum dots (QD) solar
ration, electrochemical coating technique, printing and electron cells. The size of QD cells lies in nanocrystal series. The major
beam deposition (Razykov et al. 2011; Srinivas et al. 2015). The composition of QD solar cells is semiconductor from the transi-
non-degrading nature and prolonged life are important bene- tion group. The size of nanocrystals ranges within a few nanome-
fits of CIGS solar cells technology (Badawy 2015; Imamzai et al. ters (Hoppe and Sariciftci 2008). Figure 8 shows the structure
2012). The effect of increase of temperature on the efficiency of of the QD solar cells (Hoppe and Sariciftci 2008). These crystals
CIGS solar cells is shown in Table 3. Figure 7 depicts the CIGS solar are very fast in rotation due to the presence of centrifugal force
cell. (Dubey, Sarvaiya, and Seshadri 2013).
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1205

Figure 8. A schematic of QD layer (Hoppe and Sariciftci 2008).

Table 4. Effect of increase of temperature on efficiency of DSCC (Sebastian et al.

2004).
Temperature (°C) Efficiency (%)
30 7.5–8.0 Figure 9. Schematic of concentrated solar cell.
40 6.7–7.1
50 6.5–6.7
60 6.3–6.7
70 5.9–6.3 Table 5. Comparison of CPV strengths and weakness.
80 5.8–5.9 CPV strengths CPV weakness
CPV utilise direct normal irradiance CPV cannot utilise diffuse radiation
It has low temperature coefficients Accuracy and consistency is required
5.3.2. Polymer-based solar cells while tracking CPV
Additional of waste heat is possible Limited market – can be installed in
Due to its polymer substrate these are flexible type of solar cells.
areas having high DNI
The polymer solar cells are composed of successively connected Payback time is very low Lack of technology standardisation
thin functional layers having coating of ribbon and polymer foil
(Ganesh and Supriya 2013). The PSC also works on the PV effect
in which solar energy is converted into electrical current (Mayer
et al. 2007). Researchers have attained an efficiency of over 3.0%
for polymer solar cells when the parameters were suggestively
optimised (Wudl and Srdanov 1993).

5.3.3. Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCC)

First DSSC was introduced in the Swiss Federal Institute of Tech-
nology by Michel Gratzel (Srinivas et al. 2015). Dye molecules
are employed between the different electrodes in DSCC-based
solar cells. These cells comprise four components: semiconduc-
tor electrode, a dye sensitiser, redox mediator and counter elec-
trode (carbon or Pt) (Suhaimi et al. 2015). The simple conven-
tional processing methods such as printing techniques, flexibil- Figure 10. Crystal structure of organometal perovskite.
ity, transparency and low cost make DSCC attractive (Bagher,
Vahid, and Mohsen 2015). The photosensitisation of nano-
structured TiO2 films with visible light absorbing dyes has led thermal mass. Table 5 shows the comparison of strength and
to the development of DSSC with efficiencies greater than 10% weakness of CPV.
(Badawy 2015; Dubey et al. 2013). Deterioration of DSCC and
stability issues are certain challenges suffered by these kinds of
cells (Bagher, Vahid, and Mohsen 2015). The effect of increase 6. Emerging technology: perovskite-based solar cell
of temperature on the efficiency of DSCC solar cells is shown in Perovskite solar cells are a newly developed solar cell research
Table 4. group which has several advantages compared with thin-film
solar cells and conventional silicon. Perovskite are class of com-
5.3.4. Concentrated solar cells pounds defined by the formula ABX 3 where X denotes a halogen
Concentrated solar cells are new kind of developed technology. such as I− , Br− , Cl− and A and B are cations of different sizes.
As shown in Figure 9, the collection of large amount of solar Figure 10 depicts the crystal structure of the perovskite solar cell.
energy and concentrate this energy onto a tiny region is the Park (2015) first reported stable perovskite solar cells having con-
main principle of concentrated solar cells. Hence, this developed version efficiency (PCE) as high as high as 9.7%. Jacobsson et al.
technology utilises large mirrors and lens arrangement for con- (2016) analysed that performance dropped upto 25% when the
centrating solar energy (Bertolli 2008). Therefore, concentrating temperature was increased from −80°C to 80°C. These solar cells
huge amount of sunlight produces large amount of heat energy have an efficiency upto 31% (Shi, Zeng, and Shen 2015). Stability
as shown in Figure 9. Heat engine drives this heat energy to and durability are certain issues regarding perovskite type solar
produce electricity. It can be categorised into low, medium and cells. Due to degradation of the material used in this cell, the effi-
high concentrated solar cells (Philipps et al. 2015). CPV technol- ciency gets reduced. The effect of the increase in temperature on
ogy has certain advantages like it has no moving parts and no the efficiency of the perovskite solar cell is shown in Table 6.
1206 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Table 6. Effect of increase of temperature on efficiency of perovskite solar cells The system has no interaction with a utility grid in case of
(DSCC) (Jacobsson et al. 2016; Cojocaru et al. 2015).
stand-alone system as shown in Figure 11. The battery bank
Temperature (°C) Efficiency (%) is required to store excess energy which is released when the
30 9–10 demand is higher than power generation. There could be two
35 9–10 types of load for a stand-alone PV system, i.e. DC and AC. Power
40 8–9
conditioning systems provide protection to all elements of the
45 8–9
50 8–9 PV system (Hansen et al. 2001). The stand-alone system is shown
55 7–8 in Figure 11.
60 8–9
65 7–8
70 6–7 9.2. Grid connected PV system
80 5–6
These systems are connected to the local electricity grid as
shown in Figure 12. During the day time, the electricity produced
7. Comparison between first, second and third by the grid connected system can either be utilised directly or be
generation including their characteristics, strength traded to any electricity supply companies. Power can be bought
and weakness of various PV technologies back and stored from the local network in the evening when the
PV system does not generate electricity due to the absence of
The following conclusions can be obtained from Table 7. The
sunlight (Kalagirou 2009). These systems do not include any kind
first-generation solar cell demonstrates the performance of
of battery storage as it supplies electricity directly to the load or
about 15–20%. The second-generation solar cell is based on
grid as needed. The diagram of a grid-connected PV system in
amorphous silicon, CdTe and CIGS, which show performance
shown in Figure 12.
of 4–15%. These technologies avoid the use of silicon wafers,
therefore cheaper than first generation. First-generation solar
cells have high recorded efficiencies as compared with the thin- 10. Components of PV systems
film solar cell but these generation cells are expensive due to
The PV system includes batteries, charge controllers, inverters
the use of pure silicon in the manufacturing process. On the
and maximum power trackers.
other hand, the thin-film solar cell requires least material, less
time and is cheaper. First-generation solar cells are non-toxic
and abundant in nature. The per watt price and efficiency of 10.1. Battery
second-generation solar cells are lower as compared with other
Batteries are required to store leftover electricity generated by
technologies. The third-generation solar cell uses organic mate-
the PV system when there is excess of energy or when there is
rials and polymers. The third-generation solar cell has more
unavailability of load. This energy can be utilised for various pur-
efficiency and low price compared with other types. The pro-
poses when there is no other available energy input (Meral and
duction method of third-generation cells is easy and is a novel
Dincer 2011). Batteries are also required to protect the PV sys-
technology, but is not proven yet. A new class of solar cell tech-
tem from its fluctuating nature. Batteries have a life time of 3–5
nology has been developed, namely the perovskite solar cell
years. Certain parameters such as charging/discharging cycles
which shows huge potential with a record efficiency of beyond
and temperature influence the life time of battery. The storage
25%.
capacity of the batteries is represented in Ampere hour or Ah.
Lead acid, nickel cadmium, nickel hydride and lithium are differ-
8. Hybrid PV cell ent types of batteries available in the market. Various functions
performed by battery in the PV system are (Pradhan, Ali, and
The hybrid PV cells are made by combining crystalline with Behera 2012):
non-crystalline silicon. Substantial differences exist mainly with
respect to seasonal variation when performance analysis of (a) Energy storage: it stores electrical energy produced by the
amorphous, polycrystalline and crystalline silicon-based solar PV system and supplies this stored energy to load when
cells was carried out. It was also revealed that the annual output required.
energy generated by crystalline Si-based arrays is lower than the (b) To stabilise voltage: it suppresses voltage fluctuations in PV
amorphous Si-based solar cell by 5% (Itoh et al. 2001). systems and supplies power to electrical loads at stable
voltage thus protecting loads from damage.
9. PV system (c) Surge supply current: batteries are required to supply the
starting current to motor and other inductive loads. There-
Mainly PV based electricity generation systems can be distin- fore, battery design and operating parameters of systems
guished into two types. These are: grid connected PV systems are important consideration regarding the performance of
and stand-alone PV system. PV systems having battery storage.

Types of batteries (Pradhan, Ali, and Behera 2012):

9.1. Stand-alone PV system
These systems consist of a PV generator, energy storage, charge (i) Lead acid battery: these are commonly used energy devices
controllers and power conditioners. for storing energy. Lead acid batteries can be further
Table 7. Comparison of various types of solar cell technology.

High temperature Temperature

Type of cell Size Cost performance coefficients Efficiency Other details References
First-generation solar
cells
Monocrystalline solar Requires less volume to produce More expensive crystalline Does not perform good at 0.003–0.004/K 17–18% Oldest but most widely used Bertolli (2008); Qusay and Ahmed
cell same amount of power silicon and two time high temperature (drops solar cell technology (2012); Makrides et al. (2012); Dubey,
more costly compared to 10–15%) Sarvaiya, and Seshadri (2013)
thin-film solar cells
Polycrystalline solar Requires less volume to produce Cheapest crystalline silicon Does not perform good at 0.0042–0.0045/K 12–14% Economic choice due to cost Jayakumar (2009); Wurfel and Wurfel
cell same amount of power and two time more costly high temperature (drops to performance ratio (2009)
compared to thin-film 20%)
solar cells
Second-generation
solar cells
a-Si (amorphous Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Performs good in cool as 0.0011–0.0026/K 4–8% Needs more time for Makrides et al. (2012); Dubey, Sarvaiya,
silicon) design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline well as high temperature installation compared to and Seshadri (2013)
durable silicon conditions (0% drops) other technologies
CdTe Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Performs good in cool as 0.0022–0.0025/K 9–11% Toxic due to usage of Cd in Badawy (2015); Bertolli (2008);
design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline well as high temperature manufacturing process Makrides et al. (2012); Zia et al.
durable silicon and most cost conditions (0% drops) (2015)
effective
CIGS Solar cells Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Performs good in cool as 0.0035–0.0036/K 10–15% Some CIGS have achieved Srinivas et al. (2015); Razykov et al.
design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline well as high temperature 20% efficiency (2011); Gloeckler et al. (2003); Fathi
durable silicon conditions et al. (2015); Makrides et al. (2012)
Third-generation solar
cell
Nano crystals solar cells Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Shows excellent thermal – 7–8% Needs short installation time Bagher et al. (2015); Sharma, Jain, and
design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline stability but requires large space Sharma (2015); Hoppe and Sariciftci
durable silicon (2008)
Polymer solar cell Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Does not performs good – 3–10% Needs short installation time Choubey, Oudhia, and Dewangan
design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline in high temperature but requires large space (2012); Ganesh and Supriya (2013);

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY

durable silicon conditions Wudl and Srdanov (1993); Brabec
et al. (2002); Li, Zhu, and Yang (2012)
Dye-sensitised solar Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Does not performs good – 9–10% Needs short installation time Suhaimi et al. (2015); Li et al. (2006);
cell design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline in high temperature and requires small space Graetzel et al. (2012); Liang et al.
durable silicon conditions (2007); Zhan et al. (2006); Kambe
et al. (2000); Zayat, Saed, and
Dessouki (2002); Tai et al. 2002;
Pettersson and Gruszecki (2001);
Sebastian et al. (2004); Gong (2012);
Berginc et al. (2007)
Concentrated solar Offering specialised range of 50% less expensive than Shows excellent thermal – 39–40% Needs large space and long Srinivas et al. (2015); Wurfel and Wurfel
cells product design conventional Si cells stability installation time (2009); Sharma et al. (2015)
Other type of solar cell
Perovskite solar cell Offering wide range of products Cheaper and 50% less Shows excellent thermal – 15–31% It is latest technology, needs Ahn et al. (2015); Shi, Zeng, and Shen
design from flexible, light expensive than crystalline stability minimum space and short (2015); Zhang et al. (2015); Sharma,
durable silicon installation time; Jain, and Sharma (2015); Levine
(2015)

1207
1208 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Figure 11. Figure showing stand-alone PV system (Meral and Dincer 2011).

Figure 12. Figure of a grid connected PV system (Meral and Dincer 2011).

categorised into flooded cell type or sealed/gel type. These 10.2. Charge controller
batteries are available in 6 or 12 V type in a touch plastic
The charge controller is used for battery charging and protects
container. The life cycles of this kind of battery are 250–750
the battery from getting deeply discharged. The charge con-
cycles and has a specific energy of 25–35 Wh/Kg.
troller assures stable PV system operation. At a higher voltage,
(ii) Nickel cadmium batteries: In the Ni–Cd battery, cadmium
usually of the order 12.5 V for 12 V batteries, the charge con-
and nickel hydroxide are used for making positive electrode
troller generally switches the load to the battery whereas at a
and the negative electrode, respectively. Both positive and
lower voltage, typically of 11.5 V, the controller switches the load
negative electrodes are parted by nylon separators which
off. On the basis of the type of battery used in the system, the
are kept dipped in potassium hydroxide electrolyte. The
two voltage thresholds are adjusted automatically by the charge
temperature tolerance is high as compared with lead acid
controller. Two main modes of operation of the controller are
batteries, it also has a longer life cycle.
normal operating condition and over charge/over discharged
(iii) Nickel metal hydride batteries: It has high energy density as
condition (Kalagirou 2009).
it is an extension of NiCd batteries. But NiCd is not used for
making anode as in nickel cadmium batteries metal hydride
is rather used. These have lifetime of 700 cycles.
10.3. Inverters
(iv) Lithium ion batteries: Compared with lead acid batteries
these batteries have three times more energy. Cost wise Inverter converts DC to AC. It is necessary that inverter design-
these batteries are more costly than NiCd batteries. ers carefully identify the aim of usage of inverters as all types of
(v) Lithium polymer batteries: In this battery the solid polymer inverters are not suitable for use when power is fed back to the
electrolyte acts as both electrolyte and separator. The reac- main supply. PV inverters use special control for the PV system,
tion between electrolyte and lithium electrode is less in this including MPPT and anti-islanding protection (Yamaguchi et al.
kind of battery. It has a lifetime of 1000 cycles. 2003).
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1209

11. Factors affecting PV cell efficiency

Various factors affecting PV cell efficiency such as the amount of
solar irradiation, ambient temperature, wind speed and dust are
elaborated in this section.

11.1. Effect of increase of temperature and irradiation

Efficiency and output power of PV system are affected by any
change in module temperature (Meral and Dincer 2011). PV effi-
ciency and output power of PV system get affected by variation
in module temperature. It is widely accepted and well known
that an increase in temperature leads to reduction in efficiency
of the PV solar cell. This is due to the reason that an increase
in temperature reduces band gap, thus the open circuit volt-
age will drop as V oc dependency can be seen in the diode factor
q/kT (inverse dependency on temperature). Short circuit current
increases as the temperature is increased (Krauter 2004). When Figure 14. Relation of the PV module temperature and PV module efficiency
solar irradiation is increased, more charge carriers will jump from (Yamaguchi et al. 2003).
valence band to conduction band, hence the output power
changes rapidly in accordance with solar irradiation. Monocrys-
Singh and Ravindra (2012) examined dependency of tem-
talline silicon are influenced more when temperature increases
perature on solar cell performance in a temperature range of
as compared with polycrystalline silicon and thin-film solar cells.
273–523 K and concluded that there is increment in reverse sat-
Efficiency drops of 15% and 5% are observed in the monocrys-
uration current and decrement in open circuit voltage which
talline silicon solar cell and thin-film solar cell, respectively, when
reduces the fill factor and hence decreases efficiency. At the
the temperature is increased (Kumar and Rosen 2011). The dif-
same time, the bandgap also decreases with increasing temper-
ference between the module temperature T m and the ambient
ature and hence reverses a saturation current increase which
temperature T amb can be considered independent of the ambi-
therefore improves the efficiency of the cell. Therefore with
ent temperature and linearly proportional to the irradiance at
increasing temperature, the tendency of open circuit voltage to
levels above 400 W/m2 , this fact can be used to find out normal
decrease and reverse saturation current to increase in the solar
operating cell temperature (NOCT). The average reduction rate
cells results in a decrease in the efficiency.
of the output power depending on the temperature was calcu-
Figure 13 represents the influence of temperature and irradi-
lated to be 0.031 W/°C. The relation to find out NOCT is (Garcia
ance on the cell characteristics. As irradiation increases, the open
and Balenzategui 2004).
circuit voltage increases logarithmically, whereas the short cir-
cuit current increases linearly (Meral and Dincer 2011). The effect
E
Tm = Tamb + (NOCT − 20) of PV module temperature on PV module efficiency is shown in
800 Figure 14.

where E is irradiance (W/m2 ).

11.2. Dust
Therefore, reducing temperature not only increases effi-
ciency of panels but also reduces the thermal degradation rate. Dust affects the PV efficiency by blocking the coming irradi-
This temperature can be reduced by releasing stored heat of PV ance onto PV modules and by accumulating on the PV module
cells or by cooling the modules. surface. Therefore, it is suggested to estimate output of system

Figure 13. Effects of increase of irradiation and cell temperature on PV characteristics (Kalagirou 2009).
1210 N. RATHORE ET AL.

taking in account dirt or dust which will surely get accumulated 12.1. Land use
on modules in the rainy season.
Topography, type, area of the land used by PV systems, distance
A report realised that the ‘100 W module’ will operate on
between installed PV systems and natural beauty are certain
‘79 W’ only due to dust accumulation on the module (California
factors which can determine the impact of land use on natural
Energy Commission 2001).
ecosystem.
The influence of dust deposition and speed of wind on PV
cell performance is studied by Gossens and Kerchaever (1999)
also. They concluded that due to an increase in dust den- 12.2. Accidental release of pollutants
sity on PV modules there is decrement of output power in PV
systems. Although PV systems do not emit any liquid or gaseous pollu-
Jiang, Lu, and Sun (2011) concluded that due to deposition tants in normal operation, but when CIS and CdTe modules are
of air borne dust the short circuit current reduces and hence the used it emits small quantities of toxic substances. There is a slight
efficiency drops linearly with the dust concentration. When the risk due to fire in array which might cause some chemicals to be
dust deposition density reduces from 22 to 0 g/m2 , the PV output released into the atmosphere. There is risk to public as well as
efficiency increases from 0% to 26%. environment due to the release of hazardous materials in case
of abnormal plant operation of large-scale central plants (Raptis,
Sachau, and Kaspar 1995).

11.3. Effects of system equipment

12.3. Visual impacts
Types and capacities of batteries, maximum charge current, tem-
perature and manufacturer tolerances are important major fac- Visual interference is highly dependent on the category of the PV
tors influencing the efficiency of PV batteries (Ozgocmen 2007). systems. Visual impacts are high when PV systems are installed
Batteries must be located in an area which is sufficiently venti- near an area of natural beauty. Although when PV systems are
lated. The efficiency of a battery can be defined as the ratio of the installed in façade of buildings it might cause a positive aesthetic
charge extracted (Ah) during discharge and amount of charge impact as compared with when installed at historic buildings
(Ah) needed to restore the initial state of charge. Therefore, the with cultural value (Hestness 1999).
state of charging and discharging current affects the efficiency
of battery. When deep discharge is required, classic Pb acid bat-
teries are used. Other battery type like NiCd and NiMh are rarely 12.4. Exhaustion of natural resources
used (Kalagirou 2009). Hermetical batteries are special type of Large quantities of bulk material are needed to manufacture
batteries which do not require maintenance as they consist of the PV systems which make it an energy-intensive process. Fur-
electrolyte in a gel form. Although flooded (or wet) batteries ther manufacturing of PV systems also requires scarce mate-
require much care and high maintenance if properly handled rials like In/Te/Ga and certain amount of toxic Cd (Tsoutsous,
these batteries can last longer. On the other hand, little mainte- Frantzeskaki, and Gekas 2005).
nance is required in case of valve-regulated batteries (Meral and
Dincer 2011). The operating voltage is determined by voltage
of the battery and charge controller. But it may also be possi- 12.5. Air pollution
ble that battery voltage and optimum PV operating voltage are
It is said that using the PV system is ecofriendly but at the same
not the same (Kalagirou 2009). Therefore to operate PV at max-
time there is release of certain amount of harmful emissions
imum power point, controllers need to optimise the operating
during transportation of PV modules which is the cause of air
voltage of the PV modules independent of the battery voltage.
pollution. The estimated emissions from poly and monocrys-
Inverters and choice of inverters also affect efficiency (Ishikawa
talline modules are 2.0757−3.845 kg CO2 /kWp, 5.049–5.524 kg
2002).
SO2 /kWp and 4.507–5.273 NOx /kWp (Raptis, Sachau, and Kaspar
1995).

12. Environmental impacts

12.6. Waste management
There are significant environmental benefits of solar PV systems
which are listed below. The short life span and heavy metal content of battery are
The positive and negative impacts of solar PV systems are: responsible for most of the environmental impacts. Even huge
amount of raw materials and large amount of energy are
(1) greenhouse gases such CO2 , NOX and toxic gas like SO2 par- required for the manufacturing process of batteries (Tsoutsous,
ticulates can be reduced in the environment using the PV Frantzeskaki, and Gekas 2005).
system;
(2) waste land can be used for installation of PV systems;
13. Applications
(3) reduction of the necessary transmission lines of the electric-
ity grids. Some of the important benefits such as increasing efficiency,
reducing cost and less pollution of the PV systems have led to
PV cells have following environmental impacts. a widespread range of their application.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1211

13.1. Building integrated systems Table 8. Different modes of degradation of silicon modules (Ndiaye et al. 2013).

Due to low cost and good appearance of PV panels, these can Component Degradation
be used in building materials such as roofing, glass and sid- Silicon PV module (crystalline) Broken cells
Corrosion
ing. Therefore, PV panels are slowly replacing materials previ- Broken glass
ously used in the construction of building. A design of a build- Discoloration of encapsulant
ing using PV panels is proposed by Yoo and Lee (2002), which Fragmented interconnection
Failure of bypass diode and weld ribbons
reduces cooling load by shading building in summer and also
allows entrance of solar light during winters in building to pro-
vide daylight. Bakos, Soursos, and Tsagas (2003) described the
installation, technical characteristics, operational and economic 14. Problems associated with PV technology
evaluation of the grid connected building integrated PV sys- Thongpron and Kirtikara (2006) studied the nature of compo-
tem, also examined economical factors using the computerised nents of complex power of a PV grid interactive system including
renewable energy technologies assessment tool. reactive, actual and apparent power due to low radiation under
400 W/m2 . He concluded that at high values of radiation, actual
power is available. Reactive power is drawn from transformer
13.2. Desalination plant and is fed into load and inverter when there is less availability of
A solar still plant fully powered by solar energy was proposed solar irradiation. Hence, methods must be developed to convert
by Hasnain and Alajlan (1998). This plant treated reject brine the actual power form by capturing this low radiation energy.
obtained from the PV RO desalination plant at the rate of 5.8 m3 Lund (2006) discussed certain problems that arise when fluc-
per day. The operational process with the designing of a solar PV tuating renewable energy sources are integrated to the Dan-
powered stand-alone desalination plant is explained by Weiner ish reference system with high degree of combined heat and
et al. (2001). power for electricity production. The purpose of the study was
to identify optimal mixtures from a technical point of view.
Stuckings and Blakers (1999) measured the reflection from
the front surface of the encapsulated silver electroplated front
13.3. Solar home systems
contact solar cell and then examined resistive and shading loss
Anywhere where there is sunlight solar home systems can be from the fingers of the encapsulated solar cell. He found that
installed. These systems provide electricity for services like light- because of trapping of light reflected from the grid, effective
ing, cell phones, television, fans, cooking, refrigeration, etc. shading loss reduces to about one-third of the coverage fraction
The electricity can be stored in batteries which will allow the of the cell grid.
power to be used in night. Besides household, solar home sys-
tems could provide power for schools, clinics or small business.
Solar home systems have the potential to replace candles and 14.1. Degradation of PV module: common problem
kerosene lamps which are used for lighting. Posorski, Bussmann, associated with PV technology
and Menke (2003) proposed solar home systems which can be Ndiaye et al. (2013) presented degradation of Si PV modules.
used to substitute kerosene and dry cell batteries, hence reduc- Degradation is deterioration of the component of the PV sys-
ing GHG and thus leading to climate protection. tem due to its operating conditions which influence the per-
formance of PV. When the deterioration of modules exceeds a
critical threshold then the module can be problematic as it will
13.4. Pumps not give proper efficiency. The different modes of degradation
Solar-powered pumps are the pumps that run on electricity gen- of crystalline silicon modules is shown in Table 8.
erated by PV panels. Due to lower maintenance costs, the oper- Corrosion of PV modules: The most common type of degrada-
ation of solar-powered pumps is more economical. The solar- tion in PV modules is corrosion. According to Kemp (2005) corro-
powered pump has less environmental impact as compared with sion is effect of moisture that enters through the laminate edges
pumps powered by a diesel engine. The solar pump plays an of the module. The connection between the metallic frame and
important role where grid electricity is unavailable. cells can be damaged by corrosion. The leakage currents get
increased due to corrosion as it attacks metallic connections of
PV modules which reduce the performance of PV cells (Ndiaye
et al. 2013). Munoz et al. (2011) show the effect of corrosion on
13.5. Space
the edge and junction box of the PV system (Figure 15). Sodium
Solar PV technology can also be used in space. New light weight present in the glass reacts with moisture which is foremost cause
design manufactured for revolving the satellite power source of deterioration of PV modules edges as claimed by Carlson et al.
is described by Seboldt et al. (2001) which supplies the power (2003) and it leads to delamination of tin oxide contacts from
required for transmission to earth using large tower in the form glass. Furthermore, Carlson shows that by prevention of mois-
of microwaves. Girish (2006) studied the power generation in ture entrance, by using low alkali or high resistivity glasses, the
terrestrial bodies in night time using reflected light energy flux increasing grip of glass surface to transparent conductive oxide
from nearby planetary objects based on latest low intensity corrosion can be minimised. The use of zinc oxide instead of tin
low-illumination (LILT) solar cell technology. oxide which acts as a transparent conductive contact will also
1212 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Figure 15. (a) Effect of corrosion of edge on PV module (b) corrosion of junction box of PV system (Munoz et al. 2011).

Figure 16. PV module having delamination degradation (Kaplanis and Kaplani 2011).

reduce corrosion. Gasket of low diffusivity which contains desic- Difference of 4.5% power is observed in white and yellow
cant can be used to properly seal to prevent moisture entrance modules.
(Kemp 2005).
Delamination of PV modules: Delamination is also called as
adhesion loss. The increase in light reflection and penetration
14.2. Recent advancements in the field of PV technology
of water inside the module, electrical risk are the major results
of delamination (Munoz et al. 2011). Delamination arises among Recent technologies to improve power efficiency: Many new tech-
cells – front glass and encapsulating polymer cells. The cause nologies are being adopted to improve power and system effi-
of delamination is salt gathering and moisture ingression as ciency. Abbatelli et al. (2010) tried to improve PV efficiency
claimed by Jansen and Delahoy (2003). Delamination of the edge using low-loss semiconductor, while Mazzola and Kelley (2009)
of the module is shown in Figure 16. demonstrated replacement of four IGBTs by four off SiC JFET in
Breakages and cracks in the PV module: Cracks generally occur a solar inverter based on full bridge topology to improve system
during installing the PV module or during transporting it. It may efficiency. Recently González et al. (2016) proposed a strategy
be possible that no power degradation is observed due to break- to increase the PV inverter efficiency in low irradiance condi-
age but there is always possibility of getting shock and moisture tions using energy modulation (MODEN). MODEN was achieved
absorption. According to Quintana et al. (2002), deterioration using ultra-capacitors bank which acted as an energy regula-
and staining are cause of cracks on the PV module. The width tion transitory element. Ultra-capacitors temporarily store and
of PV cells has reduced from 300 to 200 µm and even 100 µm then convert the energy received during low light conditions
in order to save silicon and manufacturing cost which makes PV at the power regime rather than immediately converting as
cells more brittle and vulnerable to breakage during installation other inverter does. The proposed system makes the inverter
of PV modules (Ndiaye et al. 2013). Therefore, the manufacturing to work intermittently but at a maximum efficiency point. Ultra-
process needs to be improved in order to reduce occurrence of capacitors work in the floating mode in the MODEN system with
breakages in PV modules. small voltage variations and the time constant is higher than
Discolouration of the PV module: It is the change in colour of the ones which describe charge redistribution. The MODEN con-
the material of the PV module to yellow or brown, which mod- troller as shown in Figure 18 search for MPP of the PV array
ifies transmittance of light reaching the PV cell which in turn continuously to adjust ultra-capacitors voltage limit around the
reduces the generated power (Ndiaye et al. 2013). Discoloura- MPP point.
tion does not come from the polymer rather it originates from Therefore, the key element used is the MODEN controller.
the encapsulating polymer such as EVA. The main causes of dis- The management of connection and disconnection of ultra-
colouration are UV rays that get combined with water at high capacitors is managed by the MODEN controller. The informa-
temperature of 50°C (Oreski and Wallner 2009). Realini (2003) tion of power supplied by the PV array is also received by the
shows that due to discolouration ISC varies from 6% to 8% if the MODEN controller. Many MODEN inverters should be paral-
PV cell gets partially discoloured and ISC varies from 10% to 13% lelised to achieve a higher output.
for complete discolouration. Figure 17 shows the correlation Technique to enhance light load efficiency: There are multiple
of V–I characteristics for yellow module and white module. factors which alter the conversion efficiency in PV panels like
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1213

Figure 17. V–I characteristics of module of healthy (white) and discoloured (yellow) PV modules (Realini 2003).

Figure 19. Efficiency with hybrid switch and without hybrid switch in PV system.
Figure 18. General system of MODEN scheme.

constructed using hybrid switches such that under soft switch-

type of module (Huld et al. 2010), incompatibilities between pan- ing can be easily attained when irradiation is low.
els within the PV array (Chamberlin et al. 1995), influence in Figure 19 describes the efficiency curve comparison with the
change in temperature (Day et al. 2016), etc. Numerous method- light load enhancement technique and without the light load
ologies have been cited in the literature for improving the enhancement technique. It was experimentally validated that
inverter efficiency like using configuration without the trans- the inverter comprising of hybrid switches have much better effi-
former to improve efficiency within a range of 1–4% (Islam, ciency at light load conditions. Further this technique was eval-
Mekhilef, and Hasan 2015). But inverter losses mainly occur due uated for 10 specific sites for 4 different kinds of the PV module,
to dissipative characteristics of the hard switching regime so i.e. polycrystalline, crystalline, organic and micromorph solar cell
the next approach was utilising the soft switching method for and results indicated efficiency increment of 1.35%. Therefore
improving efficiency as described by Fathabadi (2016). The high- for the 1 kW PV system surplus energy of 7220 Wh annually can
efficiency DC–DC boost converter including MOSFET and two be gained using this new technology. Thus, successful deploy-
diodes were proposed to use in the PV system. It was experi- ment of PV systems needs improvement of efficiency which
mentally verified that in this proposed technology no switching further will surely reduce payback time.
losses occur as only switch of the converter is turned ON and Development of Inverter with integrated feature: The compact
OFF, respectively, under zero current switching (ZCS) and zero PV inverter of 150 W was developed by Ando et al. (2017). This
voltage switching (ZVS) conditions and also two diodes goes inverter has an integrated feature of the MPPT controller along
ON/OFF under the ZCS condition. Therefore, the proposed tech- with the DC–AC converter in a single module. Four SiC MOS-
nology of the high-efficiency DC/DC boost converter was proved FETs and four SiC Schottky barrier diodes were used to build the
to have good efficiency (98.21%) as similar to other types of DC–AC converter and DC–DC converter, respectively. Figure 20
the boost converter. Betanzo, Calleja, and Lizarraga (2016) pre- illustrates the arrangement of the PV power storage system with
sented efficient boosting technology at a low power level to a developed SiC-based inverter. Schottky barrier diodes per-
achieve soft switching. Transformerless converter topology was formed the function of rectification diodes, while MOSFET acted
1214 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Figure 20. Schematic of developed inverter (Ando et al. 2017).

as switching transistors. Due to the increase in the switching fre- solar cell. Though polymer cell gets degraded over time still
quency, the size of the module gets reduced to one-third of the it is also a good and feasible option.
existing commercial Si-based inverter. The conversion efficiency
of the DC–AC converter was 3% higher as compared with the
existing Si-based inverter. Conversion efficiency of greater than Disclosure statement
96% was achieved by the developed MPPT controller which fur- No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ther raises the total efficiency up to 86%. Therefore, newly devel-
oped technologies possess superior efficiency than the already ORCID
existing inverter.
Narayan Lal Panwar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3309-2306

15. Conclusions References

Recent advancement in the PV technology makes it the most Abbatelli, L., S. Buonomo, R. Scollo, M. Cacciato, A. Consoli, and V. Crisafulli.
promising and popular among all available renewable energy 2010. “Latest ST MOSFET and IGBT Technologies for the Best Efficiency in
technology. The following conclusions can be drawn from the Solar Inverters.” PCIM Europe Conference Proceedings, 874–879.
Ahn, N., D. Y. Son, I. H. Jang, S. M. Kang, M. Choi, and N. G. Park. 2015. “Highly
above detailed review: Reproducible Perovskite Solar Cells with Average Efficiency of 18.3% and
Best Efficiency of 19.7% Fabricated via Lewis Base Adduct of Lead(II)
(1) Different types of available PV cells are monocrystalline, Iodide.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 137 (27): 8696–8699.
multicrystalline, multi-junction and concentrating solar PV Ahuja, D., and M. Tatsutani. 2009. “Sustainable Energy for Developing Coun-
tries.” Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society 2 (1).
cells. High efficiency is a major advantage in case of
https://journals.openedition.org/sapiens/823.
monocrystalline cells, but these types of cells require a com- Ando, Y., T. Oku, M. Yasuda, Y. Shirahata, K. Ushijima, and M. Murozono.
plex method for fabrication. Polycrystalline cells are cheaper 2017. “A Compact SiC Photovoltaic Inverter with Maximum Power Point
compared with the monocrystalline cell but they are slightly Tracking Function.” Solar Energy 141: 228–235.
less efficient. The efficiency of PV cells can be increased Aramoto, T., S. Kumazawa, H. Higuchi, T. Arita, S. Shibutani, T. Nishio, and K.
Omura. 1997. “16.0% Efficient Thin-Film CdS/CdTe Solar Cells.” Japanese
by concentrating sunlight using lenses and mirror arrange-
Journal of Applied Physics 36: 486–524.
ment. Badawy, W. A. 2015. “A Review on Solar Cells From Si-Single Crystals to
(2) The output of PV power systems is affected by many param- Porous Materials and Quantum Dots.” Journal of Advanced Research 6 (2):
eters such as change in irradiation, variation in temperature 123–132.
and dirt/dust deposition. Increment in the output of the Bagher, A. M., M. M. A. Vahid, and M. Mohsen. 2015. “Types of Solar Cells and
Application.” American Journal of Optics and Photonics 3 (5): 94–113.
PV module is observed when solar irradiation is increased.
Bakos, G. C., M. Soursos, and N. F. Tsagas. 2003. “Techno Economic Assess-
When the temperature increases, efficiency drops. Efficiency ment of Building Integrated PV System for Electrical Energy Saving in
can be improved by reducing the surface temperature of Residential Sector.” Energy and Building 35 (8): 757–762.
panels which will also prevent thermal deterioration of pan- Barnett, A. M., J. A. Rand, R. B. Hall, J. C. Bisaillon, E. J. Delle Donne, B. W. Fevock,
els. The efficiency of PV systems is also influenced by range D. H. Ford, et al. 2001. “High Current, Thin Silicon-on-Ceramic Solar Cell.”
Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 66: 46–50.
and selection of batteries, charger controller, inverter and
Berginc, M., U. O. Krasovec, M. Jankovec, and M. Topic. 2007. “The Effect of
power electronic devices. Temperature on the Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on a
(3) Recent advancement and reduced operating cost of PV Propyl-Methyl-Imidazolium Iodide Electrolyte.” Solar Energy Materials and
systems have significantly made these systems competi- Solar Cells 9 (9): 821–828.
tive and popular. As compared with conventional energy Bertolli, M. 2008. Solar Cell Materials. Course: Solid State II. Knoxville: Depart-
ment of Physics, University of Tennessee.
sources solar PV presents tremendous environmental ben-
Betanzo, C. C., H. Calleja, and A. Lizarraga. 2016. “Photovoltaic System Assess-
efits. The main advantage of PV systems is the absence ment Considering Temperature and Overcast Conditions: Light Load
of any harmful emissions and low wastage of the material Efficiency Enhancement Technique.” Solar Energy 137: 148–157.
during the manufacturing process. Therefore, SPV can be Brabec, C. J., S. E. Shaheen, C. Winder, and N. S. Sariciftci. 2002. “Effect of
considered as an ecofriendly energy source. LiF/Metal Electrodes on the Performance of Plastic Solar Cells.” Applied
Physics Letters 80 (7): 1288.
(4) Although methods of using solar energy are easy, still need
Britt, J., and C. Ferekides. 1993. “Thin-Film CdS/CdTe Solar Cell with 15.8%
arises to develop an efficient and tough solar material. Sixty Efficiency.” Applied Physics Letters 62: 2851–2852.
per cent of the entire solar spectrum could be converted California Energy Commission. 2001. “A Guide to Photovoltaic System Design
into electric power using technology like nano crystal based and Installation.” California Energy Commission, CA, USA.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1215

Carlson, D. E., R. Romerol, F. Willing, D. Meakin, L. Gonzalez, R. Murphyl, H. R. Huld, T., R. Gottschalg, H. G. Beyer, and M. Topic. 2010. “Mapping the Perfor-
Moutinho, and M. Al-Jassim. 2003. “Corrosion Effects in Thin-Film Photo- mance of PV Modules of Different Types.” Solar Energy 84 (2): 324–338.
voltaic Modules’.” Progress Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 11 (6): Imamzai, M., M. Aghaei, H. Md, Y. Thayoob, and M. Forouzanfar. 2012. “A
377–386. Review on Comparison Between Traditional Silicon Solar Cells and Thin-
Castellano, R. 2010. “Solar Panel Processing.” Archives Contemporaines. Film CdTe Solar Cells.” Proceedings of National Graduate Conference,
Chamberlin, C. E., P. Lehman, J. Zoellick, and G. Pauletto. 1995. “Effects of Putrajaya Campus, Tenaga Nasional Universiti, 1–5.
Mismatch Losses in Photovoltaic Arrays.” Solar Energy 54 (3): 165–171. Ishikawa, T. 2002. “Grid connected Photovoltaic Power Systems: Survey of
Chopra, K. L., P. D. Paulson, and V. Dutt. 2004. “Thin-Film Solar Cells: An Inverter and Related Protection Equipments.” Central Research Institute
Overview.” Progress in Photovoltaics 12 (2–3): 69–92. of Electric Power Industry, IEA-PVPS T5-05.
Choubey, P. C., A. Oudhia, and R. Dewangan. 2012. “A Review: Solar Cell Islam, M., S. Mekhilef, and M. Hasan. 2015. “Single Phase Transformerless
Current Scenario and Future Trends.” Recent Research in Science and Tech- Inverter Topologies for Grid-Tied Photovoltaic System: A Review.” Renew-
nology 4 (8): 88–101. able and Sustainable Energy Reviews 45: 69–86.
Chu, Y., and P. Meisen. 2011. “Review and Comparison of Different Solar Itoh, M., H. Takahashi, T. Fujii, H. Takakura, Y. Hamakawa, and Y. Mat-
Energy Technologies.” Report of Global Energy Network Institute (GENI), sumoto. 2001. “Evaluation of Electric Energy Performance by Democratic
Diego. Module PV System Field Test.” Solar Energy Material & Solar Cells 67:
Cojocaru, L., S. Uchida, Y. Sanehira, V. Gonzalez-Pedro, J. Bisquert, J. Nakazaki, 435–440.
T. Kubo, and H. Segawa. 2015. “Temperature Effects on the Photovoltaic Jacobsson, T. J., W. Tress, J. P. C. Baena, T. Edvinsson, and A. Hagfeldt. 2016.
Performance of Planar Structure Perovskite Solar Cells.” Advance Publica- “Room Temperature as a Goldilocks Environment for CH3NH3PbI3 Per-
tion 44 (11): 1557–1559. ovskite Solar Cells: The Importance of Temperature on Device Perfor-
Day, N. U., C. C. Reinhart, S. DeBow, M. K. Smith, D. J. Sailor, E. Johansson, and mance.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry 120 (21): 11382–11393.
C. C. Wamser. 2016. “Thermal Effects of Microinverter Placement on the Jansen, K. W., and A. E. Delahoy. 2003. “A Laboratory Technique for the Eval-
Performance of Silicon Photovoltaics.” Solar Energy 125: 444–452. uation of Electrochemical Transparent Conductive Oxide Delamination
Dmitrijev, S. 2006. Principles of Semiconductor Devices. Oxford: Oxford Univer- From Glass Substrates.” Thin Solid Films 423 (2): 153–160.
sity Press. Jayakumar, P. 2009. “Solar Energy Resource Assessment Handbook.” Renew-
Dubey, S., J. N. Sarvaiya, and B. Seshadri. 2013. “Temperature Dependent Pho- able Energy Corporation Network for the Asia Pacific.
tovoltaic (PV) Efficiency and Its Effect on PV Production in the World: A Jiang, H., L. Lu, and K. Sun. 2011. “Experimental Investigation of the Impact of
Review.” Energy Procedia 33: 311–321. Airborne Dust Deposition on the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Fathabadi, H. 2016. “Novel High Efficiency DC/DC Boost Converter for Using Modules.” Atmospheric Environment 45 (25): 4299–4304.
in Photovoltaic Systems.” Solar Energy 125: 22–31. Joseph, S., F. Raymond, and S. Ashok. 2015. “Energy Conversion: Develop-
Fathi, M., M. Abderrezek, F. Djahli, and M. Ayad. 2015. “Study of Thin Film ment of Solar Cells.” Accessed August 10, 2016. https://www.britannica.
Solar Cells in High Temperature Condition.” Energy Procedia 74: 1410– com/technology/solar-cell.
1417. Kabir, E. 2018. “Solar Energy: Potential and Future Prospects.” Renewable and
Ganesh, B. N. V. S., and Y. V. Supriya. 2013. “Recent Advancements and Tech- Sustainable Energy Reviews 82: 894–900.
niques in Manufacture of Solar Cells: Organic Solar Cells’.” International Kalagirou, S. 2009. “Photovoltaic Systems.” Chap. 9 in Solar Energy Engineer-
Journal of Electronics and Computer Science Engineering 2 (2): 565–573. ing: Process and Systems, edited by S. Kalogirou, 469–517. Burlington, MA:
Garcia, M. C. A., and J. L. Balenzategui. 2004. “Estimation of Photovoltaic Mod- Academic Press.
ule Yearly Temperature and Performance Based on Nominal Operation Kambe, S., K. Murakoshi, T. Kitamura, Y. Wada, S. Yanagida, H. Kominami, and
Cell Temperature Calculations.” Renewable Energy 29: 1997–2010. Y. Kera. 2000. “Mesopourous Electrodes Having Tight Agglomeration of
Girish, T. E. 2006. “Nighttime Operation of Photovoltaic Systems in Planetary Single Phase Anatase TiO2 Nanocrystallites: Application to dye-Sensitized
Bodies.” Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 90: 825–831. Solar Cell.” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 61 (4): 427–441.
Gloeckler, M., A. L. Fahrenbruch, and J. R. Sites. 2003. “Numerical Modeling Kamkird, P., N. Ketjoy, W. Rakwichian, and S. Sukchai. 2012. “Investigation
OF CIGS and CdTe Solar Cells: Setting the Baseline.” Proceedings of 3rd on Temperature Coefficients of Three Types Photovoltaic Module Tech-
World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Japan, 491–494. nologies Under Thailand Operating Condition.” Procedia Engineering 32:
Goetzberger, A., and Uwe Hoffman. 2005. “Photovoltaic Solar Energy Gener- 376–383.
ation.” 88. Kaplanis, S., and E. Kaplani. 2011. “Energy Performance and Degradation Over
Gong, J., and K. Sumathy. 2012. “A Theoretical Study on Third Generation 20 Years Performance of BP c-Si PV Modules.” Simulation Modeling Practice
Photovoltaic Technology: Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, European Associa- and Theory 19 (4): 1201–1211.
tion for the Development of Renewable Energies.” Environment and Power Kaur, M., and H. Singh. 2016. “A Review: Comparison of Silicon Solar Cells
Quality (EA4EPQ) 1 (10): 157–160. and Thin Film Solar Cells.” International Journal of Core Engineering &
González, J. M., J. A. Domínguez, J. M. Ruiz, and C. Alonso. 2016. “Ultracapac- Management 3 (2): 1–23.
itors Utilization to Improve the Efficiency of Photovoltaic Installations.” Kemp, M. D. 2005. “Control of Moisture Ingress Into Photovoltaic Modules.”
Solar Energy 134: 484–493. 31st IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference and Exhibition, Lake Buena
Gossens, D., and E. V. Kerchaever. 1999. “Aeolin Dust Deposition on Pho- Vista, FL.
tovoltaic Solar Cells: The Effects of Wind Velocity and Airborne Dust Krauter, S. 2004. “Increased Electrical Yield via Water Flow Over the Front
Concentration on Cell Performance.” Solar Energy 66 (4): 277–289. of Photovoltaic Panels.” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 82 (1–2):
Goswami, Y. D., and F. Kreith. 2007. Handbook of Energy Efficiency and Renew- 131–137.
able Energy. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Kumar, R., and M. A. Rosen. 2011. “A Critical Review of Photovoltaic Thermal
Graetzel, M., R. A. J. Janssen, D. B. Mitzi, and E. H. Sargent. 2012. “Materials Solar Collectors for air Heating.” Applied Energy 88 (11): 3603–3614.
Interface Engineering for Solution Processed Photovoltaics.” Nature 488: Levine, I., P. B. Nayak, J. T. Wang, N. Sakai, S. Reenen, T. M. Brenner, S.
304–312. Mukhopadhyay, H. J. Snaith, G. Hodes, and D. Cahen. 2015. “Temperature
Gul, M., Y. Kotak, and T. Muneer. 2016. “Review on Recent Trend of Solar Dependent Hysteresis in MAPbI3 Solar Cells.” Advanced Energy Materials
Photovoltaic Technology.” Energy Exploration & Exploitation 34: 485–526. 1–47.
Hansen, A. D., P. Sorensen, L. H. Hansen, and H. Bindner. 2001. Models for a Li, B., L. Wang, B. Kang, P. Wang, and Y. Qiu. 2006. “Review of Recent Progress
Stand Alone PV System, 1–78. Roskilde: Riso National Laboratory. in Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.” Solar Energy Materials and Solar
Hasnain, S. M., and S. Alajlan. 1998. “Coupling of PV Powered RO Brackish Cells 90 (5): 549–573.
Water Desalination Plant with Solar Stills.” Desalination 116 (1–4): 57–64. Li, G., R. Zhu, and Y. Yang. 2012. “Polymer Solar Cells.” Nature Photonics 6:
Hestness, A. G. 1999. “Building Integration of Solar Energy Systems.” Solar 153–161. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.11.
Energy 67 (4–6): 181–187. Liang, M., W. Xu, F. S. Cai, P. Q. Chen, B. Peng, J. Chen, and Z. M. Li. 2007.
Hoppe, H., and N. S. Sariciftci. 2008. “Polymer Solar Cells.” Advances in Polymer “New Triphenylamine-Based Organic Dyes for Efficient Dye-Sensitized
Science 214: 1–86. Solar Cells.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 111 (11): 4465–4472.
1216 N. RATHORE ET AL.

Lund, H. 2006. “Large-scale Integration of Optimal Combinations of PV, Wind Razykov, T. M., C. S. Ferekides, D. Morel, E. Stefanakos, H. S. Ullal, and H.
and Wave Power Into the Electricity Supply.” Renewable Energy 31 (4): M. Upadhyaya. 2011. “Solar Photovoltaic Electricity: Current Status and
503–515. Future Prospects.” Solar Energy 85 (8): 1580–1608.
Makrides, G., B. Zinsser, M. Norton, and G. E. Georghiou. 2012. “Perfor- Realini, A. 2003. “Mean Time before Failure of Photovoltaic Modules.” Final
mance of Photovoltaics Under Actual Operating Conditions.” INTECH Report (MTBF Project), Federal Office for Education and Science Tech.
Open Access. Rep., BBW 99.0579.
Markvarta, T., and L. Castañerb. 2011. “Principles of Solar cell Operation.” Sebastian, P. J., A. Oleac, J. Camposa, J. A. Toledo, and S. A. Gamboa. 2004.
Practical Handbook of Photovoltaics: Fundamentals and Applications. “Temperature Dependence and the Oscillatory Behavior of the Opto-
Mayer, A. C., S. R. Scully, B. E. Hardin, M. W. Rowell, and M. D. McGehee. 2007. Electronic Properties of a Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline TiO2 Solar Cell.”
“Polymer Based Solar Cells: A Review.” Materials Today 10 (11): 28–33. Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 81 (3): 349–361.
Mazzola, M. S., and R. Kelley. 2009. “Application of a Normally OFF Sili- Seboldt, W., M. Klimke, M. Leipold, and N. Hanowski. 2001. “European Sail
con Carbide Power JFET in a Photovoltaic Inverter.” IEEE Applied Power Tower SPS Concept.” Acta Astronautica 48: 785–792.
Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), 649–652. Sharma, S., K. Jain, and A. Sharma. 2015. “Solar Cells: In Research and
McEvoy, A., L. Castaner, and T. Markvart. 2012. Solar Cells: Materials, Manufac- Application- A Review.” Materials Sciences and Applications 6 (12):
ture and Operation. 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier. 1145–1155.
Meral, M. E., and F. Dincer. 2011. “A Review of the Factors Affecting Opera- Shi, D., Y. Zeng, and W. Shen. 2015. “Pervoskite/c-Si Tandem Solar Cell with
tion and Efficiency of Photovoltaic Based Electricity Generation Systems.” Inverted Nanopyramids: Realizing High efficiency by Controllable Light
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15 (5): 2176–2184. Trapping.” Scientific Reports 5: Article 16504.
MNRE. 2018. “Press Information Bureau, Government of India.” Accessed Singh, P., and N. Ravindra. 2012. “Temperature Dependence of Solar Cell
November 5, 2018. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid = Performance – An Analysis.” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 101:
186228. 36–45.
Munoz, M. A., M. C. Alonso-Garcia, V. Nieves, and F. Chenlo. 2011. “Early Srinivas, B., S. Balaji, M. Nagendra Babu, and Y. S. Reddy. 2015. “Review on
Degradation of Silicon PV Modules and Guaranty Conditions.” Solar Present and Advance Materials for Solar Cells.” International Journal of
Energy 85: 2264–2274. Engineering Research-Online 3: 178–182.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). 2015. Accessed February 2, Stuckings, M. F., and A. W. Blakers. 1999. “A Study of Shading and Resistive
2019. http://www.nrel.gov/. Loss From the Fingers of Encapsulated Solar Cells.” Solar Energy Materials
Ndiaye, A., A. Charki, A. Kobi, C. Kébe, P. A. Ndiaye, and V. Sambou. 2013. & Solar Cells 59 (3): 233–242.
“Degradations of Silicon Photovoltaic Modules: A Literature Review.” Solar Suhaimi, S., M. M. Shahimin, Z. A. Alahmed, J. Chyský, and A. H. Reshak. 2015.
Energy 96: 140–151. “Materials for Enhanced Dye – Sensitized Solar Cells Performance: Electro-
Oreski, G., and G. M. Wallner. 2009. “Evaluation of the Aging Behavior of Ethy- chemical Application.” International Journal of Electrochemical Science 10:
lene Copolymer Films for Solar Applications Under Accelerated Weather- 2859–2871.
ing Conditions.” Solar Energy 83 (7): 1040–1047. SunPower Corporation. 2015. Accessed June 2, 2019. http://www.sun
Ozgocmen, A. 2007. “Electricity Generation Using Solar Cells.” Published powercorp.co.uk/.
M.Sc. thesis., Gazi University Institute of Science and Technology, Ankara. Tai, W. P., K. Inoue, and J. H. Oh. 2002. “Ruthenium Dye-Sensitized SnO2 /TiO2
Parida, B., S. Iniyan, and R. Goic. 2011. “A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Tech- Coupled Solar Cells.” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 71 (4):
nologies.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15 (3): 1625–1636. 553–557.
Park, N. G. 2015. “Perovskite Solar Cells: An Emerging Photovoltaic Technol- Thongpron, J., and K. Kirtikara. 2006. “Effects of Low Radiation on the Power
ogy.” Materials Today Elsevier 18 (2): 65–72. Quality of a Distributed PV-Grid Connected System.” Solar Energy Materi-
Paul, H., and K. Zweibel. 1982. Basic Photovoltaic Principles and Methods. No. als & Solar Cells 90: 2501–2508.
SERI/SP-290-1448. Golden, CO: Solar Energy Research Inst. Tobnaghi, D., R. Madatov, and D. Naderi. 2013. “The Effect of Temperature
Pettersson, H., and T. Gruszecki. 2001. “Long-Term Stability of Low-Power on Electrical Parameters of Solar Cells.” International Journal of Advanced
Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells Prepared by Industrial Methods.” Solar Energy Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering 2 (12):
Materials and Solar Cells 70 (2): 203–212. 6404–6407.
Philipps, S. P., A. W. Bett, K. Horowitz, and S. Kurtz. 2015. “Current Sta- Tsoutsous, T., N. Frantzeskaki, and V. Gekas. 2005. “Environmental Impacts
tus of Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) Technology Report Version 1.2.” From the Solar Energy Technologies.” Energy Policy 33 (3): 289–
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (NREL). 296.
Posorski, R., M. Bussmann, and C. Menke. 2003. “Does the Use of Solar Tyagi, V. V., N. A. A. Rahmin, and A. Jeyraj. 2013. “Progress in Solar PV Tech-
Home Systems Contribute to Climate Protection?” Renewable Energy 28 nology: Research and Achievement.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy
(7): 1061–1080. Reviews 20: 443–461.
Powalla, M., and B. Dimmler. 2001. “CIGS Solar Cells on the Way to Mass Pro- Wall, A. 2014. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy.” Process
duction: Process Statistics of a 30 cm * 30 cm Module Line.” Solar Energy Industry Forum.
Materials & Solar Cells 67 (1–4): 337–344. Weiner, D., D. Fisher, E. J. Moses, B. Katz, and G. Meron. 2001. “Operation
Pradhan, A., S. M. Ali, and P. Behera. 2012. “Utilization of Battery Bank in Experience of a Solar Wind Powered Desalination Demonstration Plant.”
Case of Solar PV System and Classification of Various Storage Batter- Desalination 137 (1–3): 7–13.
ies.” International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 2 (12): Wudl, F., and G. Srdanov. 1993. “Conducting Polymer Formed of Poly (2-
2250–3153. methoxy, 5-(2’-ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene).” U.S. Patent No.
Quintana, M. A., D. L. King, T. J. McMahon, and C. R. Osterwald. 2002. 5,189,136. February 23.
“Commonly Observed Degradation in Field-Aged Photovoltaic Mod- Wurfel, P., and U. Wurfel. 2009. Physics of Solar Cells: From Basic Principles to
ules.” Proceedings of the 29th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Advanced Concepts. Weinheim: John Wiley.
1436–1439. Yamaguchi, T., M. Kawakami, K. Kitano, S. Nakagawa, T. Tokoro, and T.
Qusay, N., and N. Ahmed. 2012. “Effect of Temperature Variations on Solar Nakano. 2003. “Data Analysis on Performance of PV System Installed
Cell Efficiency.” International Journal Of Engineering, Business and Enter- in South and North Directions.” 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic
prise Applications 2 (4): 108–112. Energy Conversion, 2239–2242.
Raptis, F., J. Sachau, and F. Kaspar. 1995. “Assessment of the External Costs of Yoo, S. H., and E. T. Lee. 2002. “Efficiency Characteristic of Building Inte-
the Photovoltaic and Wind Energy Life Cycle—National Implementation grated Photovoltaics as a Shading Device.” Building and Environment 37
in Germany.” Report, DG XII, JOULE, ISET, Kassel, Germany. (6): 615–623.
Rathore, N., N. L. Panwar, A. Gama, and F. Yettou. 2018. “Solar Map of India Zayat, M. Y., A. O. Saed, and M. S. Dessouki. 2002. “Dye Sensitized of Antimony
Under Clear Sky Conditions.” International Journal of Sustainable Energy. Doped CdS Photoelectrochemical Solar Cell.” Solar Energy Materials and
doi:10.1080/14786451.2018.1527334. Solar Cells 71 (1): 27–39.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 1217

Zhan, J., P. Sun, S. Jiang, X. Sun, and T. Lund. 2006. An Investigation of the Zhang, Y., N. Stokes, B. Jia, S. Fan, and M. Gu. 2014. “Towards Ultra –Thin Plas-
Performance of Dye-Sensitized Nano Crystalline Solar Cell with Anthocyanin monic Silicon Wafer Solar Cells with Minimized Efficiency Loss.” Scientific
Dye and Ruthenium Dye as the Sensitizers. Roskilde: Roskilde University. Reports 4: Article 4939.
Zhang, H., X. Qiao, Y. Shen, and M. Wang. 2015. “Effect of Temperature on Zia, R., F. Saleemi, S. Naseem, and Z. Kayani. 2015. “Study the Efficiency
the Efficiency of Organometallic Perovskite Solar Cells.” Journal of Energy of Single Crystal CdTe/ZnCdS Solar Cell at Various Temperatures and
Chemistry 26 (6): 729–735. Illumination Levels.” Energy Reports 1: 58–61.