Determination of solar cell parameters: an analytical approach

An analytical approach to determine the solar cell series resistance (R s ), dark saturation current due to diffusion of charge carriers (I 01 ), and dark saturation current due to generation/recombination of charge carriers in the space charge region (I 02 ), from the double-diode solar cell equation is presented. The theory uses the measured I sc , V oc , V mp and I mp data of the cell. The results confirm that the diffusion process dominates charge transport at high forward bias voltages of the cell, whilst the generation/recombination process dominates charge transport at low forward bias voltages. Theoretical and experimental I-V characteristics match within +or-2%, which confirms the adequacy of the theory.