A methodology to simulate solar cells electrical response using optical-electrical mathematical models and real solar spectra

Abstract Herein we present a robust methodology to simulate the solar cells electrical response using optical-electrical finite-volume mathematical models and experimental data of solar spectrum. In this methodology, we suggest the use of mathematical PV models for three purposes: 1) to find the unknown solar cell electrical parameters from experimental J-V curves; 2) to simulate the response of solar cells under narrow-band incident radiation; and lastly 3) to simulate the short-circuit current response to experimental solar spectra. We used APE (Average Photon Energy) and SF (Spectral Factor) to assess the solar cells spectral response. We applied the method for data collected from the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Both APE and SF analyses have shown that OPV presents relatively better spectral response than p-Si cells, because Belo Horizonte solar radiation is predominantly shifted for a blue-rich spectrum, compared to the AM1.5G. OPV cells show an annual average SF of 1.10, compared to the approximately 1.00 of p-Si cells. The methodology is presented in a workflow format, and we hope it will be useful for other researchers that are looking for procedures to simulate solar cells electrical response.