Optical to electrical energy conversion: Solar cells

This chapter notes that the total energy flux incident on the earth is equal to the solar constant S multiplied by the area of the disk presented to the sun's radiation by the earth. In the last decade of the twentieth century, solar cell integration into roofs and facades of domestic and commercial buildings became widespread, enabling a new and attractive distributed form of power generation. The chapter describes the basic principles of solar cell operation along with an examination of the fundamental constraints on solar cell efficiency. It reviews current Photovoltaics (PV) technologies covering crystalline-silicon, thin-film, organic, and hybrid solar cell types. The principal effect of particle radiation on the solar cell arises from the change in minority-carrier lifetime and the resultant reduction in the diffusion length. At the time of publication, a typical monocrystalline silicon solar cell module in production has an efficiency between 15" and 18", usually slightly less for cells made from multicrystalline material