With the increasing demand of energy via greener methods and the gradual depletion of fossil fuels, solar energy conversion has regained the spotlight of the global energy activities. Our planet receives 160,000TW solar energy, while the present global energy demand is about 16TW. While the solar resource is virtually unlimited, conversion of solar energy to readily usable form is too expensive to be commercially successful at present. Furthermore, reliable solar technology has to be complemented by energy storage system to accommodate the daily and seasonal variations in the solar radiation. From this perspective, the locally produced solar cell was developed.

The project is aimed at indigenously producing solar cells from the readily available and inexpensive resources.

OBJECTIVES:

• To extract and purify silicon from “river sand”
• To pulverize the silicon which will be doped to produce opposing electrical charges prior to baking and curing
• Cell/module formation and appropriate capacity (voltage, current and power) sizing calculation

OUTCOME:          Panel size: 32 x 16 cm

                                    Nos. of cells: 32 

                                    Dark Voc: 013mV

                                    Light Voc: 94 mV