A novel method for the measurement of the C-V characteristic of a solar photovoltaic cell

Abstract

A novel method for obtaining the capacitance - voltage (C-V) characteristic of single crystalline or polycrystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (SPV) cells is demonstrated. Measurement of the C-V characteristics of an SPV cell is hindered by the presence of leakage resistance. The proposed method compensates the parallel leakage resistance of a SPV cell with the addition of a negative resistance of equal value. Test results obtained through experimentation validate the efficacy of the proposed method.