Miniature Solar Cells
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 2:20PM The goal of our design is to increase the productivity of photovoltaic solar cells by dramatically reducing their size, and also by making each cell self sufficient. Up to this point, solar cells are made in large systems, typically of 36 cells connected in series and parallel. This design is largely functional, however, when even one of these cells is shaded, the whole systems power production decreases by up to 50%.
Our idea is to reduce these losses by reducing the size of the solar cells, making each miniature solar cell completely self sufficient. By connecting these much smaller cells in parallel, a shaded cell will result in only a power reduction from that one cell. Because of this fact, these cells can be used to cover as much of the house as necessary. This could mean the roof, part of the building, or all of the building. It is important to keep in mind that to take advantage of the maximum amount of the suns energy, as many as possible of the solar cells should point towards true south. Also, with smaller cells, when one nears the end of its life, it will be much less costly to replace.
Difficulties with this design idea are numerous. The use of parallel connection results in a large amount of current, and a much smaller amount of voltage. As a result the wiring used for the system has to be of a much greater gauge, and the power output of the system might be adversely affected (power is equal to voltage times current). If there is not enough power, then the system is of little use.
Derek Welsh and Ryan Town
Jessica Fuller
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Reader Comments (5)
How do we visualize a network for many single cells?
Would the ammount of wire needed to facilitate thousands of panels being seperately wired be a benefit to the smartFarm?
What kind of techniques could be used to minimize the wiring/maintenance needed to keep the panels connected to the grid?
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