Boumediene Benyoucef

Simulation of the outdoor energy efficiency of an autonomous solar kit based on meteorological data for a site in Central Europa

This contribution analyzes the energy provided by a solar kit dedicated to autonomous usage and installed in Central Europa (Longitude 6.10°; Latitude 49.21° and Altitude 160 m) by using the simulation software PVSYST. We focused the analysis on the effect of temperature and solar irradiation on the I-V characteristic of a commercial PV panel. We also consider in this study the influence of charging and discharging the battery on the generator efficiency. Meteorological data are integrated into the simulation software. As expected, the solar kit provides an energy varying all along the year with a minimum in December. In the proposed approach, we consider this minimum as the lowest acceptable energy level to satisfy the use. Thus for the other months, a lost in the available renewable energy exists if no storage system is associated.

Influence of the spectral distribution of light on the characteristics of photovoltaic panel. Comparison between simulation and experimental

We present and analyze experimental results obtained with a laboratory setup based on a hardware and smart instrumentation for the complete study of performance of PV panels using for illumination an artificial radiation source (Halogen lamps). Associated to an accurate analysis, this global experimental procedure allows the determination of effective performance under standard conditions thanks to a simulation process originally developed under Matlab software environment. The uniformity of the irradiated surface was checked by simulation of the light field. We studied the response of standard commercial photovoltaic panels under enlightenment measured by a spectrometer with different spectra for two sources, halogen lamps and sunlight. Then, we bring a special attention to the influence of the spectral distribution of light on the characteristics of photovoltaic panel, that we have performed as a function of temperature and for different illuminations with dedicated measurements and studies of the open ...

Improvement of parameters in a-Si(p)/c-Si(n)/a-Si(n) solar cells

We analyzed and discussed the influence of thickness and doping concentration of the different layers in a-Si(p)/c-Si(n)/a-Si(n) photovoltaic (PV) cells with the aim of increasing its efficiency while decreasing its global cost. Compared to the efficiency of a standard marketed PV cell, elaborated with a ZnO transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer but without Back Surface Field (BSF) layer, an optimization of the thickness and dopant concentration of both the emitter a-Si(p) and absorber c-Si(n) layers will gain about 3% in the global efficiency of the cell. The results also reveal that with introduction of the third layer, i.e. the BSF layer, the efficiency always achieves values above 20% and all other parameters of the cell, such as the open-circuit voltage, the short-circuit current and the fill-factor, are strongly affected by the thickness and dopant concentration of the layers. The values of all parameters are given and discussed in the paper. Thereby, the simulation results give for an optimized a-Si(p)/c-Si(n)/a-Si(n) PV cells the possibility to decrease the thickness of the absorber layer down to 50 μ m which is lower than in the state-of-the-art. This structure of the cell achieves suitable properties for high efficiency, cost-effectiveness and reliable heterojunction (HJ) solar cell applications.