Effects of radiation on solar cells as photovoltaic generators

The growing need for obtaining electrical energy through renewable energy sources such as solar energy have lead to significant technological developments in the production of the basic element of PV conversion, the solar cell. Basically, a solar cell is a p-n junction whose characteristics have a great influence on its output parameters, primarily efficiency. Defects and impurities in the basic material, especially if located within the energy gap, may be activated during its lifetime, becoming traps for optically produced electron-hole pairs and, thus, decreasing the output power of the cell. All of the said effects could be induced in many ways over a lifetime of a solar cell and are consistent with the effects that radiation produces in semiconductor devices. The aim of this paper is to investigate changes in the main characteristics of solar cells, such as efficiency, output current and power, due to the exposure of solar systems to different (hostile) radiation environments. Rastuca potreba za dobijanjem elektricne energije iz obnovljivih izvora energije kao sto je sunceva energija, dovela je do znacajnog tehnoloskog razvoja u proizvodnji osnovnog elementa fotonaponske konverzije, solarne celije. Solarna celija je u osnovi p-n spoj cije karakteristike imaju veliki uticaj na izlazne parametre, prvenstveno na efikasnost. Defekti i necistoce u osnovnom materijalu, posebno ako se nalaze unutar energetskog procepa, mogu tokom rada da se aktiviraju, postajuci zamke za opticki generisane parove elektron-supljina i na taj nacin smanjujuci izlaznu snagu celija. Svi navedeni efekti mogu biti prouzrokovani na razlicite nacine tokom rada solarnih celija i u skladu su sa efektima koje proizvodi zracenje u poluprovodnickim uredjajima. Cilj ovog rada je da se istraze promene glavnih izlaznih karakteristika solarnih celija, kao sto je efikasnost, izlazna struja i snaga, nastale usled izlaganja solarnih sistema razlicitim radijacionim okruzenjima.