Design and reduction of wattage losses in solar module using AR coating, cell-to-cell gap and thickness

The major contender for alternative energy source is the Solar Cell, because the sun is an infinite source of energy. A Photovoltaic (PV) device is one, which converts the photons of light into electricity using semiconductor as a medium of conversion and this effect is called Photovoltaic effect. A photovoltaic device, which converts photons from sunlight into electricity, is called a “Solar Cell”. The present efficiency limit and cost of the solar cell are not in comparison with conventional energy sources. Efficiency of solar cells is about 24.7% in laboratory and 14% commercially. Low efficiency is due to high percentage of losses. Reflection loss, resistive loss, recombination loss and thermal loss, tend to reduce the efficiency of solar cell. The paper discusses in detail the different mechanisms of losses occurring in the solar cells and techniques that are implemented to reduce losses.