New Two-Diode Model for Detailed Analysis of Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells

In order to extract electrical properties of multicrystalline silicon (Mx-Si) solar cells precisely, current–voltage ( I – V ) measurement in the dark condition was carried out. A new two-diode model, which includes a diffusion-current dominant area (DCA) and a recombination-current dominant area (RCA), with nonequivalent series resistances, was proposed as a new equivalent circuit. Electrical properties as fitting parameters were successfully extracted using a successive approximation method. This characterization derived J 01 and J 02 , which are the diode saturation current densities for n =1 and 2 diodes, respectively. To ensure this diode model, temperature characteristics were measured, and the validity of this model was shown through calculation of the energy band gap from J 01 . J 01 and J 02 indicate a power factor and a loss factor of solar cells, respectively, which are newly proposed to classify solar cell performance.