A working solar cell may be made by deposition CuS from oslution directly onto a

Question

A working solar cell may be made by deposition CuS from oslution directly onto a n-Si wafer and then covering the CuS layer with a piece of iridium tin oxide (ITO) glass. After fabricating a 40.1 mm by 25.0 mm solar cell and connecting appropiate elcreoedes, the cel was found to generate 0.440 V and a current of 0.290 mA when exposed to sunlight.

A) What is the current per square centimeter (A * cm) for the solar cell?

B) If such cells completely covered a 15.5 ft by 6.24 ft south facing roof and were exposed to sunlight, what is the maximum combined current that could be generated?

C) Assuming that cells are 100% efficient, how many kilowatts could be produced wach hour (KWH) by the solar cells on the roof?

D)The average hom uses about 703 KWH of electricity each month. Would the owner of the roof-top solar cells be able to go "off the-grid" by generating enough electricity to equal or exceed the yearly average electricity usage? Show work to support your Yes or No answer.

Explanation / Answer

a) Current per cm = Total current/ Area in cm = 0.290 x 10-3/ 4*2.5 = 2.9 x 10-4/10 = 2.9 * 10-5 A/cm2

b) Current = Current per cm * Area = 2.9 * 10-5 * 15.5 * 6.24 * 30.482 = 2.6 A

c) Energy produced by cells = V*I*t = 0.44 * 0.29 * 1/ 1000 = 0.1276 / 1000 =1.2 * 10-4 KWH

d) Average consumption per month = 703 KWH

Average consumption yearly = 703 * 12 = 8436 KWH ----------------- (1)

Electricity produced by solar cells in 1 day = 0.00012 * 24 = 0.00144 KWH

Electricity produced by solar cells in 1 month = 0.00144 * 30 = 0.0432 KWH

Electricity produced by solar cells in 1 year = 0.0432 * 12 = 0.5184 KWH which is less than (1)

No the owner would not be able to produce sufficient electricity for yearly purpose.

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